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AURORA, Colorado (KCNC) — The Adams County Health Department is investigating after it says a case of active tuberculosis was confirmed at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Aurora.
Department officials have issued a public health order to gather information that the ACHD and the Denver Health Tuberculosis Clinic need for the investigation.
Tuberculosis is a disease spread from person to person through the air and primarily affects the lungs, but it can also affect the brain, kidneys, lymph nodes or spine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Common symptoms include coughing, chest pain, coughing up blood, weakness or fatigue, and fevers. Without treatment, the CDC says tuberculosis can be fatal.
“When a case of active tuberculosis is identified, Colorado law requires public health officials to promptly investigate the case, determine whether others may have been exposed, and take appropriate steps to prevent additional illness at GEO Aurora ICE Processing Center and in the community,” the ACHD said in a statement to CBS Colorado.
They added that they have not yet received all of the information they need to complete the investigation. The ACHD has not released information on whether the confirmed case was a detainee or a staff member at the facility.
CBS Colorado reached out to the private prison company GEO Group, which operates the Aurora facility, and to ICE for more information on containment measures but has not yet received a response.
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