UNB Fredericton student with TB contagious since mid-November

The University of New Brunswick student in Fredericton who has tuberculosis has been contagious for about two months, say health officials.

"The student became contagious around mid-November," Dr. Yves Léger, the medical officer of health for the eastern region, said in an email to CBC News.

Public Health only discovered the case on Jan. 12 and UNB officials advised the university community in an email on Jan. 15.

Little information about the infected student has been released, except that he or she lives in residence and is responding well to the prescription drug treatment.

Léger said the infected student is Canadian and he likely contracted TB in Canada.

TB is a disease caused by the bacteria mycobacterium tuberculosis and is spread from person to person through the air.

When someone with active TB coughs, sneezes, or sometimes even talks, tiny droplets containing TB germs are released into the air, where they can remain for hours.

TB usually attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, kidneys, lymph nodes and spine. If left untreated, it can lead to death.

"We do not know when [the affected student] acquired the infection, as most people who are infected with this bacteria do not develop the infection (i.e. become ill with the disease), and those that do typically do so many years or decades after they have been infected." said Léger.

"We also do not know at this point where the case would have acquired the infection; that is often the reality with most cases."

Any students, professors or staff who came into close contact and prolonged with the affected student have been contacted by Public Health and provided with information about screening for the disease, university officials announced on Monday.

Léger said Public Health officials will be following up with 10 of the closest contacts of the infected student.

"If we find an indication that there may have been transmission, we can go to another group of contacts that are not as close as these ones," said Léger.

Some at higher risk

Anyone exposed to the bacteria can become infected, but some people are at higher risk of developing active TB disease, including those who:

- Have had close, frequent and prolonged contact with a person who has, or is suspected to have, active TB.

- Live in long-term residences or crowded housing.

- Have lived, worked or travelled in a country where tuberculosis is very common.

- Have weakened immune systems from either a disease, such as HIV/AIDS, or from taking medications after a transplant.

- Work with any of the above groups.

Symptoms of TB include chronic coughing, in some cases coughing up blood, fever or night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss and fatigue.

But it could be months or even years before those symptoms present themselves.

TB is treated by taking a combination of drugs for up to one year.

6 cases across N.B. in 2015

New Brunswick had six confirmed cases of TB reported to Public Health last year, up from five confirmed cases in 2014, said Léger.

The average number of cases during the previous five years was seven, he said.

"The number of reported cases in N.B. is generally low (range three to 11 over the previous six years), and is consistently lower than the Canadian rates."

TB has largely been eradicated in North America, but claims more than a million lives a year worldwide.