Up to 50 people may have been exposed to a person with tuberculosis in the neonatal intensive care unit at Summa Health System-Akron (Ohio) Campus, according to a Fox 8 Cleveland report.
The 50 people exposed include infants, visitors as well as staff members. They have been contacted and will be tested for tuberculosis, though the risk of contracting the disease is not high. The person who exposed others to tuberculosis was not aware of their disease at the time.
The possible exposure occurred sometime between mid-November and mid-December, according to 3 WKYC. An investigation is also underway, conducted by the Summit County Public Health Department in collaboration with Summa Health System.
Caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the disease typically affects the lungs, but the TB bacteria can attack any part of the body, such as the kidney, spine and brain, according to the CDC. However, not everyone infected with the TB bacteria becomes sick.