A UNLV School of Nursing employee has tested positive for active tuberculosis, and the Southern Nevada Health District is now investigating who else may have been exposed at the university's Shadow Lane campus. The employee was present in a non-clinical classroom setting at the campus, according to information UNLV has provided, and the school says it is working directly with health officials to determine who needs to be notified.
The Southern Nevada Health District is directing and conducting the public health investigation, a role it holds as the local health authority under Nevada law, as reported by FOX5 Vegas. Per preliminary information from UNLV, potential exposure is likely limited to people who had prolonged or repeated close contact with the employee at Shadow Lane. The university has said people who have not visited the School of Nursing building at that campus in the past six months face no exposure risk, and that, to UNLV's knowledge, patients in its clinical practices were not exposed to the employee.
Health District Visits Campus, Begins Tracing Contacts
Health District representatives visited the School of Nursing at Shadow Lane this week as part of the investigation, per the same account. The agency will identify potentially exposed people, determine the scope of the contact investigation and coordinate notifications to anyone who may have been exposed. It will also ensure that identified contacts — including students, faculty and staff — receive required medical evaluation and testing, arranging that testing for anyone it determines needs it.
UNLV has described the investigation as being in its preliminary steps, and the university says the contact investigation is expected to affect only a small percentage of its overall student and employee population. Close contacts identified through the process will receive notification along with information about screening and testing. UNLV has also asked the campus community not to share information that could jeopardize the employee's privacy, and it noted that physical and mental wellness services remain available to students and staff.
How Tuberculosis Spreads — and Why Most Contacts Aren't at Risk
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infectious disease that is airborne transmissible, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, according to the Nevada Office of State Epidemiology. It spreads through close, prolonged or repeated contact — essentially, breathing the same air as an infectious person over an extended period — and is not transmitted by touching or handling objects. Active TB can cause a chronic cough, sometimes containing blood, along with fever, night sweats and weight loss, though most people infected with TB bacteria show no symptoms at all because their bodies keep the infection in check.
People with a persistent cough or other illness should seek treatment from a primary health care provider, per guidance attributed to UNLV, and those with respiratory symptoms should consider wearing a surgical mask in enclosed public spaces, according to a Health District release. People who test positive for TB can be treated, since the infection is considered treatable. The Health District's Tuberculosis Treatment and Control Clinic is tasked with ensuring that people exposed to someone with active TB disease are properly evaluated, per the Southern Nevada Health District.
Roughly 70 Cases a Year in Clark County
Active TB cases occur in Clark County at a rate of roughly 70 per year, according to a Health District release. The district's own figures show 76 active cases countywide in 2023 and 67 in 2024, while Nevada as a whole logged 86 active cases in 2023, up from 62 the year before. Nationally, reported TB disease cases climbed from 8,300 in 2022 to 9,615 in 2023 — a 15.8% jump — even though United States TB rates still rank among the lowest in the world. Roughly one quarter of the world's population is infected with TB, per the district's release, though the vast majority never develop active disease.
The Health District ramped up testing significantly in recent years: it tested 1,656 people for TB in 2023, nearly triple the 584 people tested in 2022, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Worldwide, TB remains a leading infectious killer, with 1.25 million deaths and 10.8 million new illnesses recorded in 2023.
Past Local Investigations Offer a Template
This is not the first time the Health District has had to trace TB contacts across a Las Vegas Valley institution. In December 2023, the district investigated a case involving a person with active TB disease who had been on multiple school district campuses while sick, identifying potential exposure among students and staff at Ruthe Deskin Elementary School while finding close contact minimal at most other sites. A separate report at the time, from News 3 Las Vegas, detailed how that patient had been on 26 school campuses and one training site before learning of the diagnosis, with the Health District reporting no exposures identified at eight of those campuses at that stage.
Months later, in April 2024, the district confirmed it was investigating separate active TB cases at Cambeiro Elementary School and Gunderson Middle School, per the Review-Journal's earlier reporting. At another Las Vegas Valley elementary school, testing for identified close contacts was described as mandatory and required by law, according to KTNV. UNLV says the Health District expects to complete its review and testing process in the current case over the coming weeks.
