BRUNSWICK, Maine — Bowdoin College notified students, faculty and employees Monday morning that a member of the campus community was recently diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB).In an email, Dr. Jeffrey Maher, the college’s director of health services, said the college was notified late last week of the diagnosis and that the person is appropriately isolated and receiving treatment.
College spokesman Scott Hood did not immediately respond Monday to questions seeking specific information about the diagnosis.
“There is no elevated threat to students, faculty, staff or to the Brunswick population at large,” Maher wrote in his email. “The investigation of this case is active and those who had close contact with the infected individual have been identified, notified and tested.”
The college has been working with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control and Prevention since first learning of the diagnosis, Maher wrote.
“Unless you hear from a state health official or from one of their proxy officials (including Dr. Jeff Maher, director of health services at Bowdoin), you are not at any increased risk,” Maher wrote.
“TB is an ongoing global public health concern and, since Bowdoin College is an international community, it won’t be surprising if we continue to see new TB cases in the future,” Maher wrote. “The Maine CDC’s goal is to identify and respond to new cases quickly, so they don’t result in widespread outbreaks.”
Students with questions about TB or testing for TB should contact the college’s health services at (207) 725-3770 or healthservices@bowdoin.edu or follow up with their primary care provider at home.
Faculty and staff should contact their primary care physician. Those without a regular health care provider can contact the college’s health service at (207) 725-3770 or healthservices@bowdoin.edu.
This story appears through a media sharing agreement with Bangor Daily News.