A small number of tuberculosis cases have been found in some migrant centers in Chicago, city health officials said.
The Chicago Department of Public Health did not reveal an exact number of cases or which shelters the infection was found in.
Jacob Martin, a spokesperson for the health department, told NBC News that city officials do not consider this an outbreak because the Windy City sees about 100-150 cases annually.
“I would not characterize this as an outbreak,” Mr. Martin said. “It’s relatively inline with what we expect to see.”
He said that roughly 10% to 20% of Central and South American residents have latent TB infections, which means they’re positive for the lung infection but are not contagious.
These TB cases come after Chicago’s health department reported last month that there were cases of measles found in a migrant shelter, as the city battles a measles outbreak.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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