Missouri: Tuberculosis Case Prompts Testing at College of Ozarks

About 300 students and faculty at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo., will be tested next week after a professor at the college contracted TB, health officials said. The professor's physician reported the infection to the Taney County Health Department (TCHD), which notified the college March 28. TCHD officials met with college staff on April 1, said Camille Howell, a college spokesperson. Those who will be tested include the professor's students this semester, and faculty and students who work in the professor's building, Howell said. TCHD officials will be on campus April 9 to offer free testing for anyone who wants it. "We think that the reason we're seeing tuberculosis is because we're such a mobile, global society," said Veronica Fisher, a spokesperson for TCHD. "Because we travel, we're just in contact with more communicable diseases." Last year, the county saw its highest number of TB cases -- 81 infections and five cases of active disease -- in six years.

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