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VIDEO: Index patient in Minnesota MDR-TB outbreak was infectious for 5 years
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ATLANTA — In this video from the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service conference, Victoria Hall, DVM, MS, EIS officer in the Minnesota Department of Health, discusses findings from an investigation into a fatal outbreak of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, or MDR-TB, in an ethnic Hmong community in Minnesota.
According to Hall, the index patient, a refugee who was resettled in Minnesota, was infectious in the community for over 5 years and had been seen four times by health care providers for respiratory symptoms before being diagnosed. A contact investigation turned up more patients, including many who attended the same adult day center. The median age of the patients was 76 years.
“TB is treatable and it’s curable, but you have to identify it first,” Hall said. “We want to make sure that people with TB get diagnosed on the first presentation to care, especially with unique communities that might be at higher risk.”
Disclosure: Hall reports no relevant financial disclosures.