Four More Test Positive for TB in Gregg County

LONGVIEW — Four more Gregg County residents have tested positive for active tuberculosis following an initial confirmation weeks ago, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State and Health Services said Thursday. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, Christine Mann said “four close contacts” of the person who initially was diagnosed with active TB tested positive and are being treated. She also said about 60 residents are being screened. They are people who had possible contact with an infected person. Kilgore College officials and the state agency recommended tuberculosis testing for some students and Gregg County residents after a case of the disease was confirmed at the college in mid-May. The identity and other information about the student with tuberculosis were not released, college spokesman Chris Craddock said.

Mann said the number of people being screened is unclear, because the situation is constantly changing. “TB contact investigations are dynamic, and the number of contacts identified and evaluated cannot be finalized until all areas of exposure have been investigated,” she said. “Many contacts who are currently being evaluated for TB will need to be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks, depending on the last date of contact with the index case.” Meanwhile, she said, the initial resident who tested positive still is being treated.