Tuberculosis exposure may have reached 600 people at Harlingen nursing homes

More than 600 residents and employees of two Harlingen area nursing homes may have been exposed to tuberculosis and should be tested, Cameron County Public Health officials said in a news release Friday.

Those possibly exposed are composed of current and former employees and residents at the nursing homes, which the county identified as Harlingen Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Veranda Rehabilitation and Healthcare.

Few details have been released with regard to the circumstances of the exposure but the county did say that a contact investigation has been launched in response.

“The symptoms for tuberculosis are very similar to other respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19 and the flu, that if it goes undiagnosed for a long period of time, a contact investigation of this magnitude will occur,” Health Administrator Esmeralda Guajardo said in the release.

Guajardo went on to say that the homes have been cooperating with health officials in helping identify and test “individuals who may have been possibly exposed.”

“(B)ut our attempts to reach former residents and employees has been difficult …” she added. “… (W)e need the public’s help to reach those no longer at the facilities.”

Those who worked or resided at the Harlingen Nursing and Rehabilitation Center between April 1 and Nov. 6, and at Veranda Rehabilitation and Healthcare between May 24 and Nov. 6, are asked to be tested.

Free testing will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at the Harlingen Public Health Center, located at 711 N. “L” St. in Harlingen.

Health officials say to look for symptoms of tuberculosis — a bacterial infection affecting the lungs and other parts of the body that’s transmissible through the air via coughs, sneezes or spit — which include coughing lasting three weeks or longer, coughing up blood, chest pain, weakness or fatigue, weight loss, loss of appetite, chills, fever and night sweats.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that tuberculosis cases increased in 2023 after the U.S. had for years recorded “the lowest tuberculosis rates in the world,” especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when cases “dropped substantially” in 2020.

The CDC says cases have since increased, however, rising to 2.9 per 100,000 persons in 2023, which was up from 2.5 in 2022.

“Overall, cases increased from 8,320 in 2022 to 9,615 in 2023, an increase of 1,295 cases,” the CDC has reported.

You can call (956) 247-3650 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information.

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