Letter to UCR Parents
Dear UCR Parents,
I'm writing to inform you that one of our students has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis, and the University is responding in cooperation with public health officials.
The student who was diagnosed with TB has been removed from the general campus population and is receiving treatment and has a good prognosis.
No other students have recently presented at the UCR Campus Health Center with TB symptoms. While there is generally low risk of transmission through daily activities, the student's closest associates on campus have been personally notified and are being asked to come in for screening and subsequent monitoring.
In addition, a notice has been sent to approximately 1,500 students, staff and professors who could have come into repeated contact with the diagnosed individual in lecture halls, dining halls, and other shared spaces. In the notification, the campus has offered free testing for students through its Campus Health Center.
In recent years, cases of active TB have periodically presented at colleges and universities in the U.S. and elsewhere, most recently in Taiwan, New Brunswick [Canada], Colorado, the District of Columbia, and California.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
"[Tuberculosis] is spread through the air from one person to another. The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with active TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected. TB is NOT spread by,
- shaking someone's hand
- sharing food or drink
- touching bed linens or toilet seats
- sharing toothbrushes
- kissing
TB disease is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal. Not everyone infected with TB bacteria becomes sick."
For more information about the university's response, please visit us online at http://bit.ly/sLX5Ht. For more information about the disease, please visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/TB, or the Riverside County Department of Public Health www.rivco-diseasecontrol.org/diseas19.htm.
Thank you, and best wishes,
James W. Sandoval
Vice Chancellor,
UCR Student Affairs
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