news desk Laugh
The Institute of Public Health is collaborating with the municipal superintendent of the relevant municipality to investigate the findings of tuberculosis infection in 6 people in Rogaland County. Persons were sampled (IGRA sample) after bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) was detected in a cow that was slaughtered in November 2022.
The six who tested positive locally are being followed up in collaboration with the health services as per standard routine procedures for tuberculosis infection. Positive IGRA tests do not say anything about when the infection occurred or whether it was an animal or human infection. FHI is collaborating with the municipal supervisor to map possible sources of infection, including a possible link to the massacre in question.
A positive IGRA blood test means you have tuberculosis. Being infected does not mean you are ill. Most people who become infected will never develop the disease. In the case of potential disease progression, it usually takes a significant amount of time from infection to disease (from months to years). In the case of confirmed infection, preventive treatment will effectively prevent the development of tuberculosis.
– Chief Physician Karin Nordstrand says that people who are infected without getting sick cannot infect others.
The discovery of bovine tuberculosis in a cow in Norway in November was the first in many years. In terms of tracing infection, people who have been in contact with the cow are therefore closely monitored.
Bovine tuberculosis is primarily transmitted between animals, but it can also be transmitted to humans. The most common way of infection from animals to humans worldwide is through consumption of unpasteurized milk and milk products. Pasteurization effectively kills bacteria, and pasteurized milk and dairy products are safe for consumption.
– The Institute of Public Health finds that there is no risk of tuberculosis infection for the general population in this condition, says chief medical officer Karin Nordstand.
Transmission to humans by contact with livestock occurs relatively rarely and mainly to people who have had close contact over time with an animal with persistent lung disease.
about tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is caused by fungal species that belong to Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, include tuberculosis It is most common in human tuberculosis and M. bovis that causes bovine tuberculosis.
TB infection occurs between people through the airborne spread of TB bacteria from a person with pulmonary TB. Tuberculosis in other body organs, such as the lymph nodes or the skeleton, is not contagious in practice. People who are in close contact, especially people in the same household, are most likely to become infected. However, experience shows that only half of the closest contacts became infected. Of those infected, between 5 and 10 percent will develop TB at some point in their lives.
