As part of a routine tuberculosis investigation, Delaware’s Division of Public Health (DPH) performed skin tests on approximately 300 employees from the Mountaire poultry processing plant in Selbyville on Tuesday, March 6.
The tests were aimed at ruling out the spread of TB from a female worker who was confirmed to have the disease. DPH officials said the woman was receiving treatment at home until medically cleared to return to work. Her family has tested negative for TB, they noted.
During Tuesday’s clinic, public health and Mountaire workers were to briefly interview employees about their health, determine if they had symptoms and perform a skin test on their arm. The skin tests were to be evaluated March 8 at 5 p.m. at the plant, after Coastal Point press time.
Individuals with a positive skin test do not necessarily have TB disease, DPH officials noted. “About 10 to 15 million people in the United States would be positive if skin tested,” they said, “as the vast majority of people with a positive skin test never develop TB disease and are never contagious to others.”
According to DPH, tuberculosis is a bacteria that is inhaled into the lungs. The bacteria are released into the air when a TB-infected person coughs or sneezes close to someone’s face. “People with TB disease are most likely to spread it to people they spend time with every day, such as family members, friends and coworkers,” officials said.
Signs and symptoms of TB include a strong cough that lasts more than two weeks, coughing up blood or sputum, chest pain, weakness or fatigue, weight loss, appetite loss, chills, fever and night sweats.
For those who do have a positive skin test, the following procedure is used to assure they do not have active TB disease:
• People with a positive skin test receive a chest X-ray and physical examination for evidence of active TB disease.
• Those lacking evidence of active infection based on the chest X-ray and physical examination usually receive antibiotics to further reduce the likelihood that they will someday develop active TB disease.
While the disease was most often fatal in the early part of the 20th century — commonly called consumption at the time — increased awareness, intervention and medical treatment have helped reduce how common and dangerous it can be. The advent of streptomycin in 1946 finally provided an effective treatment and cure for those who took it.
The disease still infects about 8 million people worldwide and kills about 2 million worldwide each year — mostly in developing nations. Approximately 1 in 10 people who contract it eventually develop an active infection, and half of them — if untreated — will die. Certain strains of the disease have, however, been perceived in recent years as becoming drug resistant.
Individuals who have questions about their risk for TB should see their family physician for a routine skin test, DPH officials noted. Many individuals have had this skin test before (given on the arm) as part of a physical exam.
DPH officials said they would provide more information on the investigation of the Selbyville case and the Mountaire testing as it becomes available.