| About Us |
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| Mission Statement |
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The Mission of the Oregon Public Health Division Tuberculosis (TB) Program is, in collaboration with partners at the local, national and international levels, to facilitate preventing, controlling and eventually eliminating TB from Oregon.
What is Tuberculosis?
TB, or tuberculosis, is caused by the bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB can attack any part of the body, but usually attacks the lungs. TB disease was once a leading cause of death in the United States. Worldwide, TB still causes more deaths than any other infectious disease.
TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria are spread when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes. People nearby can breathe in the TB germ and become infected.
People who are infected with TB (latent TB infection), have TB germs in their bodies but do not feel sick or have symptoms. They cannot spread TB. However, they may develop TB disease at some time in the future. Signs of TB disease include cough, fatigue, fever, coughing up blood, night sweats, and weight loss. People with TB disease can be treated and cured if they seek medical help. Even better, people who have only TB infection can take preventive medication to reduce their risk of developing TB disease in the future.
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| Organization |
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Annual Performance Measures
What We Do:
The priorities of the TB program are:
1) Identification and treatment of TB disease
2) Identification, evaluation, and treatment of newly infected contacts to infectious TB cases
3) Screening high-risk populations for TB infection
Services the TB program provides to accomplish these priorities are:
- Lab tests including AFB smear, MTB culture, drug resistance, and genotyping
- Technical assistance on diagnosis, treatment, management and investigation of TB cases
- TB medications
- Incentives and enablers to help ensure completion of treatment
- Analysis of surveillance data to better understand TB in Oregon and drive interventions
- Education and outreach
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