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| More TB Tests Set for Ala. Inmates |
| By Birmingham News |
| Published: 08/05/2003 |
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Health officials plan to test more than 250 state prisoners at a work-release facility on Mobile's Beltline Highway this week to determine whether more inmates -- including others who work at local businesses -- are infected with tuberculosis. The testing follows the discovery that a work-release inmate, who had worked at Barnhill's Country Buffet at Airport and University boulevards for nine months, had developed an active and contagious case of tuberculosis. If any of the other inmates have developed a contagious case of the disease, there will be follow-up testing at any of the facilities where they worked, according to Nancy Keenon, tuberculosis coordinator for the Alabama Department of Public Health. Brian Corbett, with the Alabama Department of Corrections, estimated that approximately 60 area businesses were involved. Last week, Department of Corrections officials in Mobile said that 17 of the facility's inmates worked at any one of 11 different restaurants in the Mobile area. Health officials say they have verified tuberculosis exposure in seven of 54 current Barnhill's employees who work at the west Mobile restaurant, though follow-up chest X-rays revealed that those seven people do not have active cases of the disease and are not considered contagious. Health department officials say that the chances of restaurant patrons being infected through casual contact are remote. Department of Corrections employees at the Beltline Highway work-release facility have already been tested for tuberculosis, according to Keenon, and none of them appeared to have been infected by the inmate. Six of the 18 employees there had already tested positive on previous skin test exams, and the other 12 showed no positive signs of exposure. Since the disease has a 10-week incubation period, all of those who have been tested in July and early August will be tested again in October. |
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