A Tuberculosis Outbreak During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Hubei Province, China, 2020.

ABSTRACT

What is already known about topic? Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has become a growing threat to public health. There were few reports about family-to-school MDR-TB outbreaks in China, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. What is added by this report? A tuberculosis (TB) outbreak happened in Hubei Province during the COVID-19 pandemic. The transmission chain was probably from a father （MDR-TB case）with retreated TB history to his daughter, who then spread TB to her classmates. What are the implications for public health practice? We should enhance TB control both in schools and households, including strengthening TB/MDR-TB detection, health education, and ventilation. The TB contact screening cannot only be limited to outside school settings and should be conducted in the school when a TB student is absent from school for 2 or 3 months, or even longer especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.