A Camden County resident has been diagnosed with tuberculosis.
After the individual presented symptoms consistent with the illness at a local hospital on Feb. 13, laboratory results confirmed active TB. The county health department was notified on Feb. 17, and the infected resident was immediately placed on isolation precaution at the hospital and started treatment two days later.
“This is a continuing investigation, and we are actively working with the New Jersey Department of Health to identify individuals who may have been exposed,” said Commissioner Jennifer Cooley Fleisher, liaison to the Department of Health and Human Services. “The individual’s household members are in the process of being tested for TB; at this time, no household members or close contacts have presented with TB associated symptoms.”
Tuberculosis or TB is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is spread from person to person through the air. While many people with a TB infection never develop the disease, some are more likely to develop tuberculosis than others. Individuals with weakened immune systems are at very high risk of developing active TB disease once infected with the bacteria.
Symptoms of active disease depend on where in the body the TB bacteria is growing, which is usually in the lungs (pulmonary TB). But it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, kidneys or spine. People with inactive TB who do not have symptoms of the disease can – without treatment – develop active TB disease and become sick.
Active TB disease in the lungs may cause symptoms such as:
- A bad cough that lasts three weeks or longer
- Pain in the chest
- Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm) from deep inside the lungs
Other symptoms of active TB disease are:
- Weakness or fatigue
- Weight loss
- No appetite
- Chills or fever
- Night sweats
Symptoms of active TB disease in other parts of the body depend on the area affected:
- TB disease of the lymph nodes may cause a firm red or purple swelling under the skin.
- In the kidney, it may cause blood in the urine.
- TB meningitis (in the brain) may cause headache or confusion.
- In the spine, TB may cause back pain.
- Infection of the larynx may cause hoarseness.
