Canada searches for 27 possibly infected with TB on bus trip

TORONTO (AP) — Public health officials in Canada announced Thursday that they are looking for 27 people who may have been exposed to tuberculosis from an infectious passenger during a bus trip in late August.
The passenger may have passed the infection on by coughing while in close contact with others on the Greyhound bus ride from Toronto to Windsor, said Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams.

The risk was low, but officials wanted to make sure those who may have been exposed were evaluated, he said.

The Detroit-bound bus had 42 passengers aboard when it reached Windsor, located across the border from Detroit. Authorities said 27 passengers got off the bus there.

U.S. customs officials detained the TB passenger later at the Windsor/Detroit border.

Williams said the infected person, who was identified only as a woman carrying a Canadian passport, had previously tested positive for tuberculosis in the United States and was refused entry back into the country at the border.

He said the woman doesn't have the more serious forms of multi-drug resistant or extensively-drug-resistant tuberculosis. Williams said it's still unknown where she was sitting on the bus or how many people sat close by.

Doctors have been monitoring the conditions of the 14 other passengers who were still on the bus when it was stopped. Ontario Health spokesman Mark Nesbitt said there is no indication they have TB. It can take three to eight weeks for officials to incubate.

Passengers who were on the bus are being asked to contact their local public health agency.
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