State health officials say more than 600 people in Delaware could have been exposed to someone with active tuberculosis last year.
Officials say they confirmed last month that a previous patient at the ManorCare Health Services facility in Wilmington contracted TB. They say the individual’s symptoms date back to May of last year while a patient at ManorCare.
Division of Public Health Medical Director Dr. Awe Maduka-Ezeh says TB symptoms are slow to develop and it’s possible for someone to have the infectious disease over a long period of time without being diagnosed.
“It’s not uncommon that someone can be at a location for a long period of time—sometimes with no symptoms, and then gradually the symptoms begin to develop. And initially they’re quite nonspecific, things like a cough which might start as a cough and get progressively worse,” said Maduka.
Despite last May being when the patient’s symptoms initiated, officials are sending letters and making calls to people who were at the health facility between January and September of last year and could potentially have been exposed.
“This is standard practice when we have someone with active TB. We ask them when their symptoms started and then we go back several months in determining what we think might be the infectious period,” said Maduka.
Tuberculosis is contracted by inhaling the bacterium through the lungs, not by brief, casual contact. It is treatable, though potentially deadly, and has been on the decline in the U.S. in recent years.
There were 9,557 TB cases nationwide in 2015. Seven people have contracted TB in Delaware to date in 2018.
DPH will offer three open testing days at its clinic at the Hudson State Service Center next month. Walk-ins can be tested June 4, 5 and 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Anyone who cannot come to one of the open testing dates should call the DPH Call Center at 1-866-408-1899.