LETTERS ISSUED TO INIS OIRR ISLANDERS ON TB SCREENING PROCESS

Date Published: 13-Feb-2013

Islanders on Inis Oirr have been issued with letters today on a screening process to be undertaken for TB.TB was first identified in a person in November and the exercise now being undertaken is an expansion of an ongoing screening process.The HSE is not commenting on the number of cases but says the risk of transmission of the disease is considered to be low .Dr. Diarmuid O'Donovan is the HSE West Public Health Director and says screening has been widening and a number of people on the mainland have also been tested.Screening for islanders on Inis Oirr will take place on Monday and Tuesday and tests will then be read.TB used to be very common in Ireland; in the early 1950s there were up to 7000 cases each year. In 2010 there were 427 cases notified, 21 of these were in the Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.Dr. O'Donavan says screening is being offered to all islanders as a precautionary measure.