Source: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...state-prisons/
Tuberculosis cases on the rise in WA, with one outbreak connected to state prisons
April 28, 2022 at 5:05 pm Updated April 28, 2022 at 5:13 pm
Elise Takahama By Elise Takahama
Seattle Times staff reporter
Tuberculosis is on the rise in Washington, an increase that’s led to the state’s largest outbreak of the disease in the last two decades, the state Department of Health announced Thursday afternoon.
The state’s rise in cases mirrors a similar trend throughout the world, DOH said in a statement. To date, the state has recorded about 70 tuberculosis cases, 17 of which are part of the same outbreak — and are connected to at least one Washington prison, the statement said.
“It’s been 20 years since we saw a cluster of TB cases like this,” Dr. Tao Kwan-Gett, the state’s chief science officer, said in the statement. “The pandemic has likely contributed to the rise in cases and the outbreak in at least one correctional facility.”...
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