Dozens of people have been tested for tuberculosis after an employee of a school in Las Vegas died of the disease in mid-July.
Dr. Joseph Iser is head of the Southern Nevada Health District. He tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal the woman was unable to speak by the time health officials learned of her case.
The Clark County School District would not reveal the woman’s title or name. However a school district employee identified the victim, who died July 19 at Sunrise Hospital, as Maria Alvarez, a special education teacher at the school.
Fremont Middle School principal Ann Schiller left a phone message to parents saying health officials would contact them if their children needed to be tested.
Tuberculosis bacteria are spread through the air. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says almost 500 people died of tuberculosis in the U.S. in 2014.
Officials have screened 114 people who had contact with the woman. Iser says 67 have tested negative so far.
