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Tuberculosis Control Activities After Hurricane Harvey — Texas, 2017

Morris et al cite that on September 14, 2017, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported that Hurricane Harvey had caused 82 deaths in Texas during August 25-August 30, 2017, with property damage that could total $180 billion. The Texas DSHS uses federal and state funding for tube...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2017-12, Vol.66 (49), p.1362-1363
Main Authors: Morris, Sandra, Miner, Mark, Rodriguez, Tomas, Stancil, Richard, Wiltz-Beckham, Dana, Chorba, Terence
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Morris et al cite that on September 14, 2017, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported that Hurricane Harvey had caused 82 deaths in Texas during August 25-August 30, 2017, with property damage that could total $180 billion. The Texas DSHS uses federal and state funding for tuberculosis (TB) surveillance, prevention, and control activities in eight DSHS health service regions, 31 local health departments, and four binational TB projects. In advance of major storms, TB programs have activated established protocols for providing patients with medications to take on their own, and for providing contact information to give to health departments in case patients become displaced. Each year, the upcoming hurricane season provides opportunities to develop, test, and implement preparedness plans for continuity of patient care. During Hurricane Harvey, the high proportion of patients successfully managed through videoenabled DOT demonstrates that video-enabled DOT can help ensure TB treatment completion when regular treatment options have been disrupted by a major storm or other disasters.
ISSN:0149-2195
1545-861X
DOI:10.15585/mmwr.mm6649a5