Wisconsin - Significant Tuberculosis outbreak in Sheboygan County

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Source: http://www.nbc15.com/news/headlines/...204858191.html


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Sheboygan South Student Has TB

Posted Friday, April 26, 2013 --- 10:10 a.m.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) -- Health officials say a Sheboygan South High School student has an active case of tuberculosis and has been isolated and treated...

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Re: WI: Sheboygan South Student Has TB

Source: http://www.thenorthwestern.com/viewa...t-TB-Sheboygan


3 more students contract TB in Sheboygan
May 10, 2013 |
Written by
Associated Press

SHEBOYGAN ? Health officials say three more Sheboygan students have an active case of tuberculosis, in addition to the case confirmed last month.

All four students are members of the same family. Health officer Dale Hippensteel says the county has eight infectious cases, all within the same extended family...

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Re: WI: Sheboygan South Student Has TB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2013
CONTACT: Jennifer Miller, (608) 266-1683

STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS REQUEST FUNDING FOR TUBERCULOSIS OUTBREAK RESPONSE IN SHEBOYGAN COUNTY

MADISON?To assist with efforts to contain a significant Tuberculosis outbreak in Sheboygan County, funding will be requested at a Joint Finance Committee meeting tomorrow, state health officials said today.

?Rapid diagnosis and effective treatment are the essential public health tools needed not only to save the lives of individuals with TB, but also to stop transmission of TB infection and disease within the Sheboygan community and beyond,? said Dr. Henry Anderson, State Health Officer.

?This urgent situation in Sheboygan County requires additional support in order to contain the outbreak and make sure individuals with active TB are successfully treated,? said Governor Scott Walker, ?You can?t put a price on ensuring the safety of the public and this is one of those situations. I encourage the committee to approve the motion.?

The current outbreak in Sheboygan involves an unusually high number of TB cases at one time, including a confirmed multi-drug resistant TB case with several more being treated as MDR cases until additional test results are confirmed. Medications for MDR TB are very expensive and must be given to individuals directly by healthcare staff daily to make sure the full treatment is completed. Currently eight cases of active tuberculosis have been diagnosed within an extended family in Sheboygan, and several additional family members may also have TB disease. All those diagnosed with TB disease are in treatment and are isolated at their homes or in the hospital.

The appropriation will cover the medications required to treat the individuals with active TB and the additional healthcare staff needed to provide the medications personally on a daily basis in order to make sure treatment is fully completed. The appropriation will also ensure that these individuals have housing while they are in isolation, which means they are required to remain at home and are not able to leave the house to work.

Tuberculosis is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and is transmitted through the air. Droplets containing the bacteria can become airborne when a person with TB disease coughs, talks, or sings. These droplets are inhaled by other people. Some of the people who inhale these droplets will become infected, and some of them may develop active disease. Typically, transmission of TB bacteria is limited to family members and people with sustained close contact. To actually become infected with TB bacteria, close (within six feet) and repeated or continuous contact (more than eight hours) with the person who has TB is usually needed.

For more information about TB, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/default.htm

http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/News/PressReleases/2013/060313.htm

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Re: Wisconsin - Significant Tuberculosis outbreak in Sheboygan County

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013...wisconsin-city

(Click link above for audio)
Tuberculosis Outbreak Shakes Wisconsin City
by Richard Knox
July 18, 2013 3:17 AM

Looking crisp and official in his khaki-colored sheriff's department polo shirt, Steve Steinhardt says Sheboygan, Wis., is a pretty good place to be a director of emergency services.

"Nothing bad happens here," he says, knocking on wood. Unless, that is, you count the tuberculosis outbreak that struck the orderly Midwestern city of 50,000 this spring and summer.

"I never expected TB to be one of the bigger emergencies I'd face when I got into this field," Steinhardt says.
Steve Steinhardt has led Sheboygan County's emergency response to the nine tuberculosis cases recorded since April.

Sheboygan County officials have had to scramble to contain it. At the height of the crisis, the county activated its emergency operation center ? a step usually reserved for major fires, floods and tornadoes.

The county has had to borrow personnel from other jurisdictions, calm parents of schoolchildren, find housing to isolate infected families and appeal to the state for millions of dollars in extra money to deal with the situation.

It's a reminder that TB ? a disease most Americans may view as a relic of the 19th century ? is still an insidious threat that can pop up anywhere...

...But the really bad news was that the woman at the epidemic's center had a TB strain resistant to at least two of the main drugs used to treat the infection. That's known as , or MDR-TB. It's especially hard to cure. The antibiotics can cost around $300,000 for a single case...

...More than three months after the outbreak first came to light, there have been nine confirmed cases of active TB among five households. Fortunately, none of the other cases is as drug-resistant as the first one.

It's not clear yet how many other people in Sheboygan will turn out to be infected. Officials think it will be in the dozens...

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Re: Wisconsin - Significant Tuberculosis outbreak in Sheboygan County

Source: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/loc...c0ebde1c9.html

Sheboygan TB outbreak appears nearly over
9 hours ago ? DAVID WAHLBERG | Wisconsin State Journal | dwahlberg@madison.com | 608-252-6125


A new case of tuberculosis emerged in Sheboygan this month in an 11-year-old boy. But the city?s unusual outbreak of TB, which triggered a special $4.7 million state budget request, appears to be nearly over.

The outbreak started in April with a woman who had multi-drug resistant TB, a strain surging in parts of the world that requires monthslong treatment costing an estimated $254,000...