A case of tuberculosis has been confirmed in someone associated with the University of South Carolina Upstate campus, according to news report.
College and health officials are trying to determine who may have been exposed to the TB germ, so they can get tested.
"USC Upstate and DHEC are committed to ensuring the safety of the campus community while protecting the privacy rights of individuals provided by state and federal laws," a USC Upstate official wrote to WYFF News 4 Wednesday.
They went on to say, "The likelihood of the infection spreading in a school setting is very minimal. In order to spread the infection, one must have had exposure to an infected individual over an extended period of time."
DHEC on TB:
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease found primarily in the lungs. It is spread from person to person through the air. Persons who have tuberculosis in their lungs cough the bacteria into the air and others become infected by breathing in the bacteria. These persons now have latent TB. Without treatment for latent TB infection, approximately 10 percent of the persons who become infected will develop tuberculosis disease sometime in their lifetime. The remaining 90 percent of the people with latent TB carry the bacteria for a lifetime without developing the disease.