The Sanitary and Epidemiological Control Department of Karaganda has officially refuted information circulating on social media about a large-scale tuberculosis outbreak at the Academician E. A. Buketov Karaganda National Research University. According to sanitary doctors, the disease has so far been detected in three students at the university, infohub.kz reports.
"An epidemiological investigation is currently underway into the registered cases of tuberculosis. A set of necessary sanitary-hygienic, treatment-and-preventive and anti-epidemic measures has been organized and is being carried out at the outbreak site, aimed at localizing the outbreak and preventing further spread of the infection," the department said in a statement.
The Sanitary and Epidemiological Control Department also stressed that no quarantine order had been issued by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Control Department of the Kazybek bi district. Sanitary doctors urged Kazakhstanis not to spread false information.
According to the department's press service, the epidemiological investigation will last 30 days, after which specialists will be able to provide full information about the incident.
According to some reports, the infected students had no contact with each other either in their studies or in daily life. They are enrolled in different faculties, attend different buildings and do not live in the same dormitory. There is therefore no basis for saying that the infection is spreading widely on campus. It is known that two of the infected are local residents, while the third came to study from the West Kazakhstan Region.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that 2,919 cases of tuberculosis were registered in Kazakhstan in the first six months of this year, 11% fewer than a year earlier.