The comments made at the Republican Party meeting held to discuss immigrants and migrant on Tuesday, Sept. 17 have caused rising concerns about tuberculosis cases in Shelby County.
At the meeting, commissioner Julie Ehemann said that the Shelby County Commissioners’ main concern was a rise in TB cases. She reported hearing of nine cases in Shelby County and attributing them all to immigrants.
Teri Heath, Director of Nursing at The Sidney-Shelby County Health Department, has stated that TB is not currently a concern for the organization.
“The Sidney-Shelby County Health Department currently does not have any concerns related to TB prevalence. Shelby County has not had any increase in active Tuberculosis cases,” Heath said.
Heath provided a list of all TB cases in Shelby County since 2020. There have been three cases, one every year excluding 2021.
“Statewide, we did see an increase in TB cases reported in 2023 as compared to 2022,” Heath said.
The Ohio Department of Health has statewide data for TB cases on their website.
Tuberculosis transmission, symptoms, prevention and treatment information can be located on the Sidney-Shelby County Health Department webpage.
Reach Sidney Daily News reporter Anna Edmiston at 937-538-4825.
