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1 Person At Whittier High School Tests Positive For TB

WHITTIER (CBSLA.com) — Students and teachers at a high school in Whittier are on high alert after it was discovered someone associated with the campus contracted tuberculosis.

The unidentified person from Whittier High School tested positive for the bacterial infection on Jan. 22, according to Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, the director of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at the LA County Department of Public Health.

Officials are now identifying and testing people who came into contact with the individual.

Kim-Farley said he couldn't confirm whether the infected person was a student or staff member, but made it clear that the public was not in any danger.

"We receive about 600 cases of tuberculosis a year. This is a standard response, and not an unexpected or unusual situation," he said.

The high school's tuberculosis case is unrelated to an outbreak of the disease on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, said Kim-Farley.

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(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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