Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano County officials are defending a two-week lapse that occurred before they notified residents in Tigerton about a confirmed case of tuberculosis in the community.
Several residents have questioned why the Shawano-Menominee Counties Health Department waited to disclose the presence of a contagious and deadly disease in the village of 800.
The health department issued a news release announcing the public health issue on Thursday, one day after holding a community meeting that attracted more than 100 people in Tigerton. Officials say the infected man, who is not being identified, tested positive for tuberculosis about two weeks earlier and is being treated at home.
Village President Dale Breaker said several members of the community have voiced concern about the health department’s decision not to alert Tigerton sooner. Although he recognizes the infected patient’s need for privacy, Breaker said he is unsure why health officials could not have held the community meeting when they confirmed the man had tuberculosis.
“Maybe as soon as they found out about it, it would’ve been OK,” he said.
Breaker said he was unaware of the health situation until last week, when a police officer informed him. By that time, members of the news media were starting to ask questions, too.
Breaker said county health officials urged him not to release information to the news media. He added: “I really didn’t have any answers, either.”
County health officials say they had been working behind the scenes to notify any people who were at risk of exposure to the infected Tigerton man. That work is continuing, and officials are uncertain how many people might be at risk.
Jaime Bodden, public health director for the county health department, said officials are under no obligation to inform the general public about a local case of tuberculosis. Information was tightly controlled, she said, to protect the privacy of the infected patient and others who might have been exposed.
Bodden acknowledged that some people in Tigerton would have liked to know about the situation sooner.
“What the public needs to know and what the public wants to know are two different things,” she said.
At a community meeting that lasted two hours Wednesday, health officials assured residents that their risk of contracting tuberculosis is minimal unless they have had close and prolonged contact with the patient. The meeting was arranged after Tigerton village leaders learned about the health issue and suggested an effort to inform the public.
A second case of tuberculosis was reported in Shawano County this spring, although officials have called that case unrelated and have withheld details.
Tuberculosis, which affects about 50 people annually in Wisconsin, is a bacterial disease that usually attacks the lungs and causes a persistent cough. If not treated properly, it can be fatal. It also can be transmitted between people when an infected person coughs or sneezes around others.
Members of the Shawano County Board of Health discussed the tuberculosis situation earlier this week in a meeting that was closed to the public under the state’s open meetings law.
County Supervisor Ray Faehling, who represents the Tigerton area and also serves on the board of health, said he is satisfied that county officials have alerted the public to the tuberculosis issue in a timely manner. Faehling said the two-week delay and closed-door meeting were necessary so that officials could “get their ducks in a row.”
Faehling said he, too, has heard complaints from residents who think the public should have been alerted sooner.
“It takes time,” he said. “You can’t just jump into it.”