TB Turns Up in Eastern Iowa

Now this is kind of scary. The first ever case of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis in Black Hawk County, is Iowa's first in seven years. Health officials are tracking the case which was discovered in January and it apears it didn't spread to other people. The person who had it has moved out of state and those who came in close contact are still under preventive treatment just in case. This type of TB is relatively rare. There were only 124 cases reported in 2005 the most recent year for which data is available. The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health said there were no known cases in this county and they hadn't seen an active case of TB in over 10 years. This type of TB can be treated although it is more difficult than the basic TB. Extensively drug-resistant (EDR) TB has no cure. Ther were two cases of EDR TB reported in 2006. Basic TB has standardized treatment readily available but fighting multiple drug-resistant TB is an expensive and time-consuming process. It takes lab tests to determine if a strain is drug resistant and can take up to two months.