Posted on 11/03/2007 7:05:23 AM PDT by B4Ranch
All of the employees at the Wayne Farms fresh processing plant in Decatur have received tuberculosis skin tests and 212 of them tested positive.
Health workers read and tabulated a final batch of tests Wednesday, said Scott Jones, interim director of the State Department of Public Health's Tuberculosis Control Division. Of the 598 tests administered Monday, 165 tested positive.
In skin tests administered to 167 fresh processing employees Oct. 11, 47 tested positive. One of the 47 has active tuberculosis disease, which is contagious.
All told, 28 percent of those who received skin tests at the fresh processing plant tested positive.
Jones said all 165 employees with positive TB results in the most recent tests would receive chest X-rays on Thursday. Doctors will evaluate those X-rays early next week to determine if any of them have signs of active TB disease.
"We have two (X-ray) technicians in the Division of TB Control to cover the entire state," Jones said. "For this situation, we've rearranged some clinics. We've made this a priority, so we have both of our technicians (assigned to Decatur and) working as a team to get them done."
Wayne Farms Sales and Marketing Director Stan Hayman said Wednesday the company offered to reimburse the state for the cost of the tuberculosis control efforts.
Jones said Thursday that he has a better idea.
"I appreciate their offer," he said.
"If Wayne Farms is interested in investing something, my recommendation to them would be to invest within their own facility to establish a pre-employment screening routine.
"If their intent is to invest, I wish they'd think about ways they can invest toward the future as opposed to reimbursing for a one-time event."
Latent TB infection is not contagious, but it remains in the body for life in the absence of treatment. About 10 percent of latent TB infections eventually become active TB disease, usually because of a compromised immune system.
Testing began after doctors diagnosed a former Wayne Farms employee with active TB disease. The testing revealed that another employee also had active disease. Health officials believe the second employee has a different strain of TB than the first employee and caught the disease from a different source.
In addition to testing other employees at the fresh processing plant, health officials said they tested all others known to have had contact with the two men. Jones refused to say whether either individual has school-age children.
Jones said the Health Department soon would give skin tests to all employees at two other Wayne Farms plants in Morgan County. The company employs 1,300 in the county.
"(Health Officer) Don Williamson asked us to evaluate the entire work force because of the concerns in the community and we're going to proceed with that," Jones said. "This is a very large undertaking. We've expanded this in response to concerns in the community, as a precaution."
Hayman said Wayne Farms welcomes the expanded testing.
"The community concern about this is an issue, but we also have 1,300 people who don't want to have to worry about their health when they come to work," Hayman said. "They have families who want them to work in a safe environment."
Jones said he was not surprised at the number of Wayne Farms employees who tested positive.
"The majority of the folks that we're dealing with in this situation are foreign born," Jones said. "I would expect about 30 percent of them to test positive."
Both employees with active TB disease are Hispanics born in countries with a high incidence of TB, health officials said.
Coughing, laughing or talking can transmit the airborne tuberculosis bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 15 minutes of close contact with a person who has active TB disease will cause up to 50 percent of people to become infected.
People who are contagious almost always are obviously ill, said Dr. Scott Harris, an infectious disease specialist who works in the TB clinic at the Morgan County Health Department.
Humans cannot catch TB bacteria from chickens, and the bacteria cannot be transmitted through chicken meat.
I like your tagline. I assume you’re a Christian who is humble which is sometimes hard to find nowadays.
thanks, bfl
latent = dormant/not active. Would that show up on X-ray?
Also, a positive PPD, (unless it’s a false positive, which of course is possible) indicates not only exposure, but that said exposure has led to (most likely latent) infection with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. That’s what I was trying to express—I was discussing those who have been exposed and tested positive.
The latter question is much more apropos. Do we deport them? Do we imprison them? Do we treat them?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the case of Typhoid Mary, who was ordered to live out the rest of her life on an island in solitude when she refused to take measures to avoid infecting others. I can’t imagine that we’d ever do such a thing in our society today. So how DO we cope with the fact that some people are simply going to continue going wherever they wish to, whenever they feel like it, without regard for whether or not they are taking tuberculosis with them?
Hey this is Decatur, Alabama, not Decatur, Tennessee
Yep, I saw it. One of my cousins, years ago, worked at a Tyson chicken processing plant in Arkansas. He has not eaten chicken since then. Fortunately, we are able to trade wood shavings from our wood processing plant for free range chickens and turkeys from a local Hutterite community near us. They use the shavings for bedding for their turkeys and chickens. I think the turpentine in the shavings is a natural antibiotic. They use no hormones nor chemicals. Jes’ plain ole chicken.....and they are wonderful.
I had a cholesterol test 2 wks. ago. The results were much higher than last year.
I jokingly commented to the Dr. that the Vytorin I'm taking was likely switched to a Chinese plant.
When I got home I checked the label. This is a MERCK LABS drug mind you.
Made in Singapore!!
And guess who gets to pay for their medical treatment!
Got it...thanks.
I had the skin test for both TB and Valley Fever shortly after starting grad school in microbiology. My TB test disappeared as usual. I've never been exposed. The Valley Fever test almost wrapped around my arm. That was a big surprise. The X-ray showed it walled off. I have to be careful to maintain my health and calcium levels to avoid a relapse. Treatment with amphotericin-B is pretty hard to handle.
FRIBOURG, PAUL J
NEW YORK, NY 10128
CONTIGROUP COS INC/CHMN & CEO
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM
VIA HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT
01/30/2007 2300.00 27930581530
01/30/2007 2300.00 2793058
Fribourg’s donated to Pubbies, but the lion’s share has been going to ‘Rats and RINOs.
TB can infect the digestive tract just fine. Coughing in proximity to you may result in a respiratory infection. Coughing on your food before bringing it to your table could set you up for the infection of the digestive tract. Either way, you don't want it. Food service workers need to be screened regularly. Workers with active disease need to be removed from employment in that field until they are clear.
Few things are obvious to me, except things which turn out later not to be true.
It seem rather odd that 212 people took a TB test at the same time. What kind of laws does Alabama have regarding the employment of food workers? Surely they were not all hired at the same time. What about health pre screening for these plants?
I know the governor of Alabama was at one time a chicken farmer, but this is ridulous. Now he is a Rino. Does he favor illegals for chicken farmers? Has he done anything to enforce health laws in Alabama?
PPDs should be taken every 6 month by health care workers. What about food workers? Do you know? I don’t.
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