The Alabama Department of Public Health is testing for Tuberculosis among 540 workers at Hope Hull Hyundai Motor Manufacturing facility today. One worker tested positive for the active form of the respiratory disease.
TB is an airborne illness that affects those who are in close contact with it. As a result, ADPH says they are only testing workers in the paint shop.
Pam Barrett is the director for the division of TB Control for ADPH. She says the disease can often be misdiagnosed as other respiratory illnesses, so those affected may not know that they have it.
“Just because someone is in contact with someone with active TB does not mean that they will pick up the germ or that they will ever get sick, but we can go in a do some testing to find out if someone does have the germ that causes TB and then we can treat them before they get sick.”
The ADPH is testing workers for both the latent and active TB infection, and plans to have the majority of the testing done today.