BOLEY, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma Department of Corrections officials say two inmates have tested positive for tuberculosis and are being treated in isolation.
Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie told The Oklahoman (http://bit.ly/MqQ9Nw) the two male prisoners from the John Lilley Correctional Center are being evaluated at Lindsay Municipal Hospital.
Massie says one inmate was diagnosed April 9 after a chest X-ray at the prison raised suspicion that he might have active TB. He says the second case was discovered after remaining inmates at the minimum-security facility were tested the following week.
Corrections medical officer Don Sutmiller says skin tests indicated 51 inmates and two employees at the prison were exposed to the disease, but only those infected required hospitalization.
Tuberculosis is a lung disease that can be transmitted through the air by its carriers.
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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.