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Hidden Reservoir: An Outbreak of Tuberculosis in Hospital Employees with No Patient Contact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2016

Riley Hazard
Affiliation:
University of Virginia, College of Arts and Sciences, Charlottesville, Virginia
Kyle B. Enfield*
Affiliation:
Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia Hospital Epidemiology/Infection Prevention & Control University of Virginia Health System, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Darla J. Low
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology/Infection Prevention & Control University of Virginia Health System, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Eve T. Giannetta
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology/Infection Prevention & Control University of Virginia Health System, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Costi D. Sifri
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases & International Health, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia Hospital Epidemiology/Infection Prevention & Control University of Virginia Health System, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
*
Address correspondence to Kyle Enfield, MD, MS, Hospital Epidemiology, University of Virginia Health System, P.O. Box 800473, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0473 (ke4z@virginia.edu).

Abstract

We describe an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) in the food preparation area of a hospital, which demonstrates that employees in healthcare settings may serve as potential risks for spread of TB even if they have no direct patient contact.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:1111–1113

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
© 2016 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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References

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