Posted at: 09/17/2012 9:43 PM
Updated at: 09/17/2012 10:21 PM
By: Steph Crock

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Employee at Hormel Foods Treated for Tuberculosis

(ABC 6 News) -- An employee at Hormel Foods has tuberculosis, a contagious disease that could put other workers at risk.

Mower County Public Health was notified that a person working at Hormel has been treated for TB and additional employees have been identified to be screened. We were first tipped off about this on our Facebook page and we started making phone calls.

It wasn't easy to get answers though. When we first contacted Mower County Public Health, we were told it was confidential and it wouldn't confirm or deny Hormel had a TB case.

We also reached out to Hormel Foods. Eventually we were issued a statement from the company telling us an employee is being treated for tuberculosis. It’s a potentially life threatening disease that attacks the lungs and is contagious.

Hormel says additional screenings are underway and so far no other employees have been found to have TB.

The company is continuing to work with public health. It's important to note, TB is a health issue but it poses no risk to food safety. Count on us to continue following and new developments.