Former San Diego State Aztec Shops employee tests positive for tuberculosis

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego State University says a former Aztec Shops employee has tested positive for tuberculosis.

The university teamed up with San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency to contact each Aztec Shops employee who may have been exposed to the bacteria during the period of time the former employee was possibly infectious.

“Aztec Shops has organized no-cost TB testing for all employees identified by HHSA and Aztec Shops as close contacts,” the university’s statement says. “No additional cases have been reported.”

The university also emailed the campus community Thursday morning to alert them about the TB case.

That email stated the TB exposure happened between Feb. 22 and June 22, mainly at the Charles B. Bell, Jr. Pavilion, which used to be called East Commons.

The university says no classroom spaces were affected, reiterating that the infected person no longer works there.

People with TB may be sick for months before they are diagnosed, and the potential exposure windows can be long. Those windows are shared “out of an abundance of caution,” SDSU says.

The university also says the people who may have been exposed to the former employee have already been alerted and given directions on how to move forward.

Tuberculosis can spared when a person with the bacteria coughs, speaks, sings or breathes. The chance of getting infected are higher for people who are exposed to a person who is sick with TB for an extended period of time inside. Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss.

You can learn more about tuberculosis on the CDC website.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story stated the former Aztec Shops employee worked at a campus bookstore. Although the bookstore falls under the Aztec Shops umbrella, the employee worked at the East Commons dining hall.