Thousands exposed to deadly lung disease after student tests positive for tuberculosis
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Hundreds of high school students in Alabama may have been exposed to the world's deadliest disease, health officials warn.
Officials at Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama, said they were alerted on March 24 to a student testing positive for tuberculosis (TB), a respiratory condition considered the deadliest disease on the planet due to resistance to certain antibiotics and increased spread in developing countries that lack modern antibiotics.
The Madison County Health Department said it is working closely with the school district to assess possible exposure and limit transmission within the school.
According to the district, the infected student has not returned to campus. Families of students who may have been in close contact, including those in the same classrooms, have been notified.
The district said TB tests will be offered on April 2 to students whose families want them to be tested.
No identifying details have been shared about the student. The school has a student population of about 2,000.
TB infects a few thousand Americans every year and kills around 500, but the threat is much more prevalent in developing countries. Worldwide TB kills 1.2 million people each year.
TB around the world is primarily prevented with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, but because the risk of TB in the US is low, BCG is not routinely administered, except for children regularly exposed to people with active TB or for healthcare workers in high-risk areas.
Officials at Grissom High School (pictured above) in Huntsville, Alabama, announced a student has tested positive for tuberculosis
TB is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, and it spreads through airborne droplets released when a person with active TB coughs, sneezes, or speaks. Early symptoms include a persistent cough, sometimes coughing up blood, chest pain, unexplained weight loss, fever, night sweats, and loss of appetite.
In later stages, patients may experience severe breathing difficulties and extensive lung damage, and the infection can spread to other organs, including the brain and spine.
TB in the brain, also known as tuberculous meningitis, can damage vital tissues, increase intracranial pressure, and kill nerve cells, potentially leading to paralysis or strokes. Deaths are most often caused by respiratory failure due to bacterial damage to the lungs.
TB in the US was on a steady decline from 1993 until 2020, when the overall number of cases hit an all-time low of 7,170. But in 2021, that number jumped to 7,866.
Prevalence has gone up every year since.
The latest CDC data shows the US provisionally recorded 10,110 TB cases in 2025, down slightly from 10,330 in 2024, which was the highest tally since 2011, when there were 10,471 cases. The majority of 2025 cases (7,858) were in non-US born citizens.
Cases in 2024 were on the rise in 80 percent of US states, which experts have blamed on missed cases and distrust of doctors forged by the Covid pandemic. In Alabama, there were 89 TB cases in 2025 and 90 in 2024. It's unclear if the Grissom High School is the state's first case of 2026.
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which cause tuberculosis, are pictured above (stock image)
The demographics of TB have also shifted, starting in 2001. That was the first year the CDC reported more non-US-born citizen patients than US-born, meaning immigrants and travelers were the driving force behind infections.
Active TB can be treated with medications called antitubercular agents, which include Isoniazid (INH), Rifampin (RIF), Pyrazinamide (PZA) and Ethambutol (EMB). These are usually taken for at least six months to ensure bacteria has fully been eliminated.
Dr Kym Middleton, a pediatrician at Huntsville Hospital, told local news station WAFF48 that the best way to prevent TB is making sure people are 'covering their face when they cough or covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze.'
'Make sure you are washing your hands with soap and water pretty consistently, making sure if you are coughing or sneezing, make sure to always cover your mouth because it helps,' she added.
