Tuberculosis Case Confirmed at Copiague Middle School

COPIAGUE, NY - A case of tuberculosis has been confirmed at Copiague Middle School, Suffolk Health officials announced on Monday.

Officials did not specify if a student or staff member contracted the disease but said the individual was a "part of the school community."

"Because the privacy of patients is carefully safeguarded under New York State Public Health Law, no further information about the individual will be disclosed," health officials said.

Superintendent Kathleen Bannon also confirmed the news in a letter to the community posted on the school's website.

"The individual is out of school and receiving care," she wrote in the letter.

According to Suffolk health officials, tuberculosis is a disease caused by a germ called Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is spread from person to person through the air.

The disease usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine. However, not everyone infected with TB bacteria becomes sick.

As a result, two tuberculosis (TB) related conditions exist: latent TB infection and TB disease.

Those with latent TB infection do not feel sick and do not have any symptoms. They are infected with M. tuberculosis, but do not have TB disease. The only sign of TB infection is a positive reaction to the tuberculin skin test or TB blood test.

People who have TB infection are not infectious and cannot spread TB infection to others. In some people, TB bacteria overcome the defenses of the immune system and begin to multiply, resulting in the progression from latent TB infection to TB disease.

Health officials say they are working closely with Copiague School District administration and the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Tuberculosis Control to identify students and staff who have been in close contact with the infected individual.

Those individuals and/or their parents have been notified by the school with further information about recommended testing.

"The affected individual is no longer at school; therefore, there is no further risk of transmission," the health department wrote in a statement. "Only individuals who have close and prolonged contact with an infectious person are at risk for contracting tuberculosis. In accordance with accepted public health practice, following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines and in close consultation with the New York State Department of Health, the SCDHS is offering a free PPD Mantoux skin test to screen persons who have been identified in consultation with the Copiague Middle School administration as having had close and prolonged contact with the individual with tuberculosis disease.

Those in the Copiague Middle School District community who did not receive notification that they or their children were identified as having had close and prolonged contact or anyone who has questions or concerns related to TB, can call the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at 631-854-2200, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

The health department will conduct a general information session in the Copiague Middle School auditorium at 2650 Great Neck Road on Tuesday, April 2 at 6 p.m.

More information about tuberculosis can be found on the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/tb/

Suffolk County reported 25 cases of tuberculosis disease to the New York State Department of Health in 2018.