13/10/2024

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Westview YMCA had active case. 500 kids exposed

Westview YMCA had active case. 500 kids exposed

Officials in Nebraska are testing more than 500 children and staff at an Omaha area YMCA drop-in daycare center for possible exposure to tuberculosis after a case at the site prompted a public health emergency.

On Thursday, Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse declared an emergency citing the risk of the infectious disease spreading at the Westview YMCA, in the Omaha suburbs. Exposures would have happened between May and late October. The incubation period for tuberculosis is from two and 10 weeks.

The patient has been isolating at home and is undergoing treatment, Huse said. Officials would not say if the person was an adult or child, or identify a gender, but they confirmed the person tested positive on Monday, and a contact investigation prompted the person or relatives to contact the Westview YMCA Childwatch, a daycare where gym members can drop their children off for up to two hours. The fact that the person was in this daycare has made the count of possible exposures especially high. The current estimate is about 500, but the estimate is subject to change as families and siblings are identified and in some cases ruled out.