Tuberculosis FACT SHEETS

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Contact tracing

What is contact tracing?

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease. If you have active, infectious TB disease,youmay have spread TB germs (bacteria)to other people without even knowing it. It’s the job of public health workers to help you get better and to help others that you may have infected. This helps stop the spread of TB.

Public health workers will talk to you to find out who you spend time with every day. This is called contact tracing. Your family members and close friends are usually the first contacts to be tested for latent TB infection.

Why is it so important to find your contacts?

TB is not easily transmitted. However, if you have infected some of your closest contacts, then other people who spend less time with you may also be tested for latent TB infection.

People have a higher risk of developing active TB diseasewithin the first two years of getting latent TB infection. Your contacts who have been infected will be offered treatment of latent TB infectionto help their immune system fight the infection and reduce their risk of developing active TB disease.

Public health workers spend a lot of time and effort tracking down the contacts of people who have active, infectious TB disease. Thanks to their efforts, many cases of TB are prevented.

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