Investigation of Tuberculosis Outbreak in A Long-Term Care Facility in Northern Taiwan, 2015

Investigation of Tuberculosis Outbreak in A Long-Term Care Facility in Northern Taiwan, 2015

In 2011, an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) occurred in a long-term care facility in northern Taiwan. According to the policy at that time, the contacts did not receive latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) treatment. In 2014–2015, two contacts and one new foreign care provider developed active TB, and became a new cluster. This indicated that delayed diagnosis and treatment in an untreated LTBI case could lead to clustered infections. We started LTBI treatment to the residents and staff, stopped receiving new residents, and centralized management of the contacts. No new cases was identified as of April 2017. This demonstrated that the LTBI case management in long-term care facilities caring for the elderly becomes a critical issue. Only by implementing treatment of LTBI and centralizing management of contacts could we lower the risks of TB outbreaks in long-term care facilities.