Westchester County, N.Y.: 90 Jail Workers Tested for TB

Almost 90 Westchester County, N.Y., jail correction officers and personnel were tested for TB after an inmate tested positive for the disease. The inmate was sent to the jail on Feb. 28, and underwent a routine medical examination, including a skin test for TB. Although the inmate's examination raised concerns about TB, the inmate was not taken to the hospital until the following Monday. William Hickey, the officers' union president, said the jail's medical staff should not have allowed the inmate to spend more than two days in the jail after the initial examination raised concerns. Skin tests on two officers were positive for TB, but follow-up chest x-rays were negative, said a county medical official. All correction officers and jail kitchen personnel will be retested in two to three months, said Dr. Germaine Jacquette, the Rockland Health Department's TB coordinator.

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