Testing Planned After Md. Students Exposed To TB

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) -- Students and staff at Montgomery County's Watkins Mill High School will be getting tested for tuberculosis after officials learned a student had the disease over the last few weeks.

Students took a letter home Thursday confirming that an individual carried the disease in school between October 2013 and January 2014. The letter says the affected individual is being treated and there is no risk of additional exposure.

Officials plan to contact students and staff members who had class or activities with the student so they can be tested for the disease. Testing will have to wait a while, however. That's because health experts say testing before eight weeks after exposure could produce inaccurate results.

Scheduling for testing will begin in early March. Free testing will follow late in the month.

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