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47 infected with TB

Wayne Farms employees test positive; X-rays to determine if germs active, contagious

By Eric Fleischauer
eric@decaturdaily.com · 340-2435

Skin tests compiled Tuesday revealed that 47 of the 167 Wayne Farms employees tested for tuberculosis were infected.
Lung X-rays were performed Tuesday to determine whether any of the 47 has active tuberculosis, the only type that is contagious. A physician will read the X-rays on Thursday.

The tests were triggered when a former Wayne Farms employee was diagnosed with active tuberculosis. He was hospitalized and is under treatment. The employee left Wayne Farms about two months ago.

The Morgan County Department of Health injected the forearms of the Wayne Farms employees with testing solution Oct. 10. Health officials returned to the plant Friday to evaluate the injection sites.

Of those tested, 72 had direct contact with the hospitalized employee, health officials determined. The remaining 127 voluntarily requested the free testing.

Of the 72 who had contact with the hospitalized employee, 38 percent (27 employees) were infected with the tuberculosis bacteria, according to Scott Jones, interim director of the division of tuberculosis control with the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Of those who had not had contact with the employee, 22 percent (20 employees) were infected.
“That may be more a reflection of the rate of infection in their country of origin,â€