1,500 tested for TB at Southern California school

INDIO, Calif. - More than 1,500 staff and students at a Southern California high school were tested for tuberculosis after one student was diagnosed with the bacterial infection last month, health officials said Friday.

Nearly 1,400 students and faculty at Indio High School were tested on Friday and around 130 students had the TB tests on Monday.

Forty-five students tested positive for possible exposure but more tests, including X-rays will be needed to determine whether they have active TB, health officials said.

Five students were sent home Thursday after follow-up X-rays showed they needed further examination.

"This is just the most recent step in the standard, medically accepted process for handling potential exposures," Cameron Kaiser, the county's public health officer, said in a statement. "We have required testing for everyone at the school as a precaution, even though the chance of the illness being passed from one person to another is remote."

The disease was brought to the high school by a student who was there from September until mid-November. The student, who has not been identified by authorities, is expected to make a full recovery.