Friday, Nov. 2, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Several parents have raised concerns about the safety of a Friday night football game after a tuberculosis scare at one of the schools.

The nurse manager at the Burke County Health Department says the game between Burke County High School and Butler High School should be safe because it is outside and outside air "significantly dissipates" airborne tuberculosis bacteria. In a news release, the nurse manager says the Burke County fans and band members will be separated from the Butler High School fans and band members.

"As a mother I would not hesitate to take my children to this game and to allow my son to play," she said in the release.

Director of the Richmond County Health Department Dr. Ketty Gonzalez says "fans, students and players would be safe from tuberculosis at Butler Stadium."

The scare started earlier this month when a Butler student was believed to have contracted TB. Since then, students who have had contact with the student have been tested. Originally, only a smaller circle of students were tested, but testing was opened up to all students after students outside of the believed infected group had positive test results. Click here for testing information.

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