TB tests for US high school students

Students and teachers at an Omaha high school will be tested for tuberculosis over the next week, after a student was infected.

Health officials have also confirmed that a relative of the infected student has been diagnosed with the disease. They also announced that the patient has not been present in school for several weeks and cannot be named.

Dr Adi Pour, county health director, spoke to KPTM News saying: "That is the most important thing that we could do because the likelihood for this individual infecting somebody is at the highest risk at home."

About 15 people who had been in closest contact with the teen have already been tested and now around 100 students will be tested for free at school.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that tuberculosis cases are not unheard of and there were 13,292 cases across the US last year.

Tuberculosis is spread through the air with close and repeated contact and affects a person's lungs. The disease is treatable with medication.