Members and Friends,

A phone call with the Bell County Public Health Department this morning has garnered the following information regarding the tuberculosis exposure in Killeen ISD:

  • The exposure was caused by a substitute teacher that taught in the four buildings.
  • TB is an aerosol-transmitted disease. In order to be infected the bacteria must be inhaled. It cannot be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact.
  • TB that is transmitted to a person is often detected by the body’s immune systems and encapsulated, or surrounded in the body, where it remains until either eradicated with antibiotics or becomes an active infection.
  • A danger of TB is that it exists in both an active state and an inactive state. The inactive TB bacteria can remain dormant inside a body for years.
  • TB symptoms include unexplained weight loss without trying, loss of appetite, a persistent cough.
  • TB symptoms can often be initially misdiagnosed as pneumonia, because the symptoms are similar.
  • Once a body is exposed to TB, a blood test called a T-Spot will swiftly determine if exposure has actually occurred.
  • It can take up to a month for the more common type of TB test, called a Tyne test that involves a small grouping of needles with antibodies placed into the underarm, to detect the presence of TB.
  • A chest X-ray will also conclusively determine if TB exposure has taken place.
  • Anyone who fears the possibility of infection is encouraged to get tested to rule out TB infection.
  • The district has not stated whether they will pay for the exam or offer time for employees to be tested. We will be asking for that information.
  • The Health Department does not currently know the length of time that TB bacterium remains viable for infection after being expelled from a carrier. They are going to find out and inform us.
  • Bell County follows a protocol established by the State of Texas regarding exposure levels to TB. It is their belief that in order to be exposed to infection-capable levels, the exposure must occur for at least 6-8 hours over a period of a week.
  • The children in the classrooms taught by the substitute were exposed in either 50 or 100 minute increments, and are therefore not believed to be at high-risk of infection.
  • The state also believes that teachers in those buildings are not at risk because of the minimal exposure they believe to have happened.

We will keep you informed as to the latest developments.

-Killeen Educators Association