Cumberland County confirmed a case of tuberculosis at Seventy-First High School and notified more than 250 people they were exposed to the disease.
County health officials said they were notified about a confirmed case of tuberculosis on Sept. 11 and are working with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Cumberland County Schools to determine who else may have been exposed.
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Officials said they have identified 260 people so far who may have had close contact with the person who was infected.
Parents of Seventy-First students were notified on Wednesday. Officials released no information about the affected individual. Letters were sent home with students identified as possible close contacts.
Some students said they first heard the news around lunchtime through social media posts.
“The school didn't even let us know we all walking around asking if anybody got masks," Seventy-First Senior Kayden Sutton said.
Sutton said his sister was among those who received a letter by the county saying she had exposed to tuberculous and needed to be tested.
County health officials said they are working to provide screening information to anyone who may have been in close contact with the person.
It involves a preliminary skin test. If that test returns positive, individuals will be taken for X-Rays.
"All people who have had close contact with the individual have been contacted by a public health nurse from the County Health Department or Cumberland County Schools," the health department said.
Health officials said active tuberculosis most often affects people's lungs. People who are sick with TB often have at least one of the following symptoms:
- Cough lasting more than three weeks
- Coughing up blood
- Fever
- Profuse sweating at night, often soaking bed sheets
- Unintentional weight loss
- Poor appetite
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Difficulty breathing
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said this marks the sixth case of tuberculosis in Cumberland County this year and 120th statewide.
UNC professor medicine and epidemiology Dr. David Weber said tuberculosis infection depends on several different factors, including the health of the person exposed. Weber said despite the lack of vaccine, tuberculosis is increasingly less common.
“It’s still a disease to be concerned about,” Weber said. “It spread through aerosols, that is, the infected person is coughing or sneezing, particularly coughing, and the uninfected person inhales those aerosols and develops tuberculosis, starting in the lungs and occasionally spreading to other parts of the body.”
This story is developing and will be updated as more information is available.