ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
There is not an outbreak or a public health emergency at this time in Seward County.
That news came from Seward County Health Department Administrator Brie Greeson at Monday’s county commission meeting, as she clarified a recent report of active tuberculosis cases in the county.
“We got a lot of traction off an article that was posted,” she said. “Just to clarify, there has not been any spread nor an increase in active TB cases in Seward County compared to previous years. With the outbreak that’s happening in Northeast Kansas, we had a lot of questions from the public. A clear picture was published by us.”
Greeson said SCHD typically sees anywhere between zero and 10 active TB cases a year, and in a press release issued last week, four active cases were reported in the last 12 months.
The increase seen, Greeson said, is in latent, or inactive cases, and with such cases, she said patients are not required to quarantine or stay home. She added the increase was due to a local testing event done by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and a local company that chose to not be named.
“In an effort to do that, they were trying to get the people who tested positive for the latent, which means it is in their body but not being spread, treated so they have less chance of being converted to an active case,” she said.
With active cases, Greeson said germs are active, and immune systems cannot stop them from growing.
“They have lots of symptoms – not just a fever, not just a cough,” she said.
Greeson said patients can get tested with their doctor or a schedule a skin test with the health department.
“There is a process we go through for some of that stuff,” she said.
Conversely, Greeson said inactive and latent cases are when germs are in the body but are not causing outward illness or transmitting disease.
“If you’re experiencing those symptoms, contact your physician’s office or us, or for life threatening symptoms, go to the ER. It is preventable,” she said.
Greeson said TB is curable, but there is not vaccine currently available in the U.S.
“Our biggest job is just to keep the public informed,” she said. “There is not a public health emergency at this time. There could always be one, but currently, we do not have an active problem. It has not spread from the KC metro area.”
Greeson encouraged anyone who has questions to call SCHD at 620-626-3369 or go by the health department at 1411 W. 15th Street in Liberal.
“That’s what we’re here for,” she said. “We’ve been working on this for over a year. KDHE has been for almost a year with us and has been working on the Wyandotte County outbreak since January 2024. Unfortunately, I am unable to release certain information to the public unless there is an actual public health crisis and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment lets me.”
Greeson said some comments made online have focused on local health officials not keeping the public up to date on a perceived emergency, and she said this is no emergency at this time.
“I am here to let all the constituents know if there is one, I will be letting everyone know,” she said. “I’ve been in great contact with the hospital, with urgent cares, with the providers in town. We have a good plan in place in case anything happens.”
Greeson said all active TB cases are followed and maintained very closely by the health department.
“There’s legislation that helps us manage all these,” she said. “If there’s ever any problems, you guys will be the first to know in the county.”
