NI hospital on tuberculosis alert

A hospital was on tuberculosis alert today after a member of staff contracted a rare form of the disease.

A hospital was on tuberculosis alert today after a member of staff contracted a rare form of the disease.

The employee at Causeway Hospital in Coleraine contracted a multi-drug-resistant form of the respiratory disease and is in a stable condition.

Work colleagues and friends have been screened for the disease while the hospital has begun drawing up a list of patients who may also require testing.

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust said the chances of people catching this strain of TB was extremely low.

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Dr Peter Flannigan, the trust's medical director, said they were concerned about possible exposures to the infection between September last year and last month.

"But because of the very limited contact, time wise . . . this does not present any degree of significant risk to anybody who attended the accident and emergency department," he said.

Tuberculosis attacks the lung and is a bacterial infection that is spread through the air. Among the symptoms are chest pain and the coughing up of blood.