Overview
- Bethpage High School and Patchogue-Medford High School each reported an individual with tuberculosis who is receiving treatment under health department supervision.
- Nassau and Suffolk county health officials are determining close contacts and will notify families if evaluation is advised.
- Patchogue-Medford offered free Mantoux PPD testing with a second round in March to account for the incubation window, and families testing elsewhere were asked to submit results.
- Officials say the overall risk to the wider school populations is considered low, with transmission typically requiring frequent, prolonged indoor contact.
- Investigators have not established a link between the two cases, and public guidance emphasizes that TB is airborne, can be latent or active, and is dangerous if untreated.