150 at USF to be tested for TB

TAMPA, Fla. — About 150 people at the University of South Florida will be tested for tuberculosis after a student is believed to have come down with the illness.

The Hillsborough County Health Department reports the ill student has been placed in isolation and given tuberculosis drug therapy.

The student has not been identified because of federal privacy laws.

The Tampa Bay Times (http://bit.ly/y1gfiP ) reports health investigators are working to identify anyone who might have been exposed to the disease. A health department spokesman tells the paper officials expect up to 10 percent of those screened to test positive.

Tuberculosis typically affects the lungs and can be spread through the air when an infected person speaks, sneezes, coughs or sings.