Tuberculosis Case Reported In County

A Wolf Point resident was recently diagnosed with active tuberculosis. The individual has started treatment, and there is no ongoing risk of exposure to the public. Fort Peck Tribal Health, Roosevelt County Health and Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services are working together with a health care facility in another state to manage the individual’s illness and to stop the spread of TB in the community.

Public health officials are actively conducting an investigation to identify community members or health care workers who may have been exposed to TB. It is possible that community members not identified through the public health investigation may also have been exposed. Fortunately, we can test to see if anyone has been infected, and treatment is very effective. Anyone with contact with someone with active TB within their lifetime or concerns about being exposed to TB should be tested.

A free community testing event will be held Tuesday, March 31.

Ryan Weight, Montana DPHHS tuberculosis epidemiologist, said,” We would like to assure residents that this situation is manageable.” The germ that causes TB is slow-growing and does not cause sudden sickness. Weight added, “There are tests available to determine if someone has tuberculosis and effective treatment is available.”

TB is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can infect any part of the body. TB is spread through particles put into the air by a sick person coughing, singing, or sneezing. The only way to contract the disease is by close contact with someone who has the disease. It cannot be spread by contact with someone’s clothing, drinking glass, eating utensils, handshake, toilets, or other surfaces.

If TB is in the lungs, the symptoms include:

• cough a lot

• cough up mucus or phlegm (“flem”),

• cough up blood, or

• have chest pain when you cough If you have active TB disease, you may also:

• feel weak

• lose your appetite

• lose weight

• have a fever, or

• sweat a lot at night TB disease is typically treated with antibiotics.

If you know, or think that you may have been exposed to someone with active TB or to someone who exhibited the symptoms of TB listed above, please come to the free community TB testing event: Wolf Point Community TB Placement Testing Event Location: Roosevelt County Health Department Conference Room 124 Custer Street Wolf Point, MT 59201 Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2026 Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please note: TB testing requires two visits, so you will need to return Thursday, April 2, for your result to be read.

On the first day, testing requires a small amount of medicine to be placed under the skin of the forearm. Then, 48 hours later, a trained health official examines the arm to determine if the test is negative or if further assessment is required.

Wolf Point Community TB Test Reading Event

Location: Roosevelt County Health Department Conference Room 124 Custer Street Wolf Point, MT 59201 Date: Thursday, April 2 Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. For questions, call Fort Peck Tribal Health Department 406-768-2208 or Roosevelt County Health Department 406-653-6223.

For additional information see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at: https://www.cdc.gov/ tb.