SPRINGFIELD, Va. — A tuberculosis outbreak at Robert E. Lee High School has infected three people and might have been exposed to an additional 430 students and faculty.
Officials at the Fairfax County Health Department started investigating a tuberculosis outbreak in December when one person at the school contracted the disease. The department reopened the case after two additional individuals at the institution developed tuberculosis symptoms, ABC News reports.
It is unclear whether the cases are related, and the department has not specified whether the infected individuals are students or staff members.
Caused by bacteria that attack the lungs, tuberculosis spreads when an infected person ejects the bacteria into the air and it enters the lungs of another person. Symptoms include fever, chills and the coughing up of blood. Health officials have recommended that those at the high school who have been exposed to the disease should be tested.
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