County puts in more than 300 hours on case

An investigation is ongoing after a report in February that an inmate in the Freeborn County jail had tuberculosis.

The county was informed Feb. 13 by the Minnesota Department of Health that the inmate, who was no longer in Freeborn County when the county became aware of the diagnosis, tested positive for the disease, according to a Feb. 26 email sent by Administrator Thomas Jensen to all government center employees.

Upon receiving information of the diagnosis, Freeborn County Public Health Department staff, with the assistance of the Minnesota Department of Health, began a contact investigation and assessment of issues surrounding the case, Jensen said.

“Any risk of transmission to our detention center staff has been deemed ‘low risk’ after consideration of the multiple factors assessed,” he said. “Any other staff — maintenance, information technology, contractors and other incidental visitors — that happened to enter the jail during this time have been deemed at no risk.”

The name of the inmate has not been released because of private data requirements. The inmate was incarcerated in Nobles County before being transferred to Freeborn County, where the person stayed for approximately five weeks before being taken to another jurisdiction in early February.

Public Health staff have reportedly worked more than 300 hours on the case since the county became aware of the diagnosis. A $1,300 Department of Health grant has covered a portion of the work, but a large amount of the $13,000 investigative cost remains uncovered.

Jensen said staff identified as having possibly been exposed “are being tested and all precautions and safeguards are being taken to ensure the safety of our staff and their families.”

“The area that this person was housed in has air exchanged every 20 minutes to the outside, so there is no ventilation shared with other parts of the government center, therefore those working outside of the detention center are not at risk,” Jensen said. 

In a statement Friday, Minnesota Department of Health spokesman Doug Schultz said the Department of Health is assisting Nobles and Freeborn counties in the contact investigation process.

The department has reportedly identified 100 contacts combined in Nobles and Freeborn counties, but those numbers sometimes fluctuate over the course of the investigation.

Tuberculosis is defined as an infectious bacterial disease characterized by the growth of swelling or aggregation in the tissues, especially lungs.

According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis is spread from person to person through their air. When people with lung tuberculosis cough, sneeze or spit, they reportedly propel the germs into the air. A person needs to only inhale a few of the germs to become infected, according to the organization.

The last reported case of tuberculosis in Freeborn County was in 2012.