On May 15, 2025, the Multnomah County Health Department in Oregon reports an individual at Lane Middle School in Eugene was recently found to have tuberculosis (TB) of the lung. This means some staff and students may have been exposed to TB.

Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD) is working closely with School District leadership to notify potentially exposed individuals and recommend testing.

TB is caused by a bacteria. It is spread through the air from one person to another when someone who is sick with TB coughs, speaks or sings. People who breathe the germs into their lungs can become infected.

Most people who have been exposed to TB will not become infected. A safe and simple skin or blood test can tell whether a person has been infected. TB disease can be treated and prevented with antibiotics.

The risk to the Lane Middle School community is very low. TB is rarely spread in schools. People usually get infected as a result of close face-to-face contact for several hours with someone who has the disease – typically daily contact for weeks or months. You are not likely to get TB from someone walking in the hallway or from a brief conversation. Tuberculosis is not spread by sharing clothing, dishes, or drinking glasses. TB does not live on surfaces and is not spread through contact like shaking hands.