FREDERICTON (CUP) – Hundreds of University of New Brunswick students will soon find themselves on the receiving end of a needle as public health officials expand their investigation into a case of active tuberculosis on campus.

A residence student has been in isolation for several weeks after developing the disease. All students who shared a class with “the case”-including several large first- and second-year courses-will be tested for tuberculosis (TB) in the coming weeks.

As of Friday, 89 people associated with the student, including all in his residence, had been tested for TB. Thirteen came up positive for infection.

The chief medical officer for the region, Dr. Scott Giffin, insists there is no ongoing risk to the public. “There’s only one person who has active tuberculosis-that is what we call ‘the case,'” he told Canadian University Press. “That person, prior to treatment, was capable of transmitting the disease to others. Nobody else is capable of transmitting the disease.”

On campus, reaction to the news has been muted, mostly because the investigation has been kept quiet. Students living in the case’s residence think that’s the way it should be. They say it’s best to let the whole thing blow over, and stressed that neither the student’s name or residence should be made public.

“We don’t want to be blacklisted by the rest of the school,” explained one student, who did not want to be identified. “The guy who has it has been in isolation. Aside from that: whatever. Nobody’s too concerned about it.”

Michel Ouelette, Director of Residential Life and Conference Services, agreed. “Even with the initial news, the students were way more concerned about the student who was in isolation than themselves,” he said, adding that TB doesn’t carry the same stigma it did 30 years ago.

Dr. Giffin said testing will likely last until the end of the semester, and that the only thing unusual about this investigation is its magnitude. “We have to find out what classes the case attended, then we assume that everybody else in that class attended. They would be tested,” said Dr. Giffin.

For the test, a TB-associated protein is injected into the skin. “If your immune system reacts against it, that produces a red wheel on the skin,” explained Dr. Giffin. “That indicates your body recognizes the TB … which means you do have that in your lung.”

It takes 48 to 72 hours for the results of the skin test. Those who test positive for TB bacteria are given antibiotics for treatment.

Bacteria that cause the TB disease can travel through the air and can lodge in the lungs. It stays dormant, noninfectious, and shows no sign of disease.

In 10 to 15 per cent of people it will germinate and turn into active TB at some point in their life.

On average, 10 cases of TB are reported in the province each year.