A young child is one of two new tuberculosis cases identified in South Australia as health authorities scramble to get on top of separate outbreaks.
The child under the age of five was linked to a cluster discovered in the Murraylands region last week, while the other case is potentially linked to an outbreak in the remote APY Lands.
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Despite the new cases, there is no need for people in either community to alter their activities in response, Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said on Wednesday.
The new case brings the Murraylands cluster to six, including two children and one historical case, with most of them close family connections.
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The diagnosis of a young child was particularly concerning because children are at higher risk of developing severe and more widespread active disease, Spurrier said when the cluster was identified.
Public health chief Nicola Spurrier says there is no need for people to alter their activities. Credit: AAP
The other newly discovered case, although diagnosed in Adelaide, recently travelled while potentially infectious to Port Augusta and several APY Lands communities.
Genomic testing is still being conducted, but if a link to the outbreak in northwest SA is confirmed, it would take it to 14 cases.
The APY Lands and Murraylands clusters are not linked, SA Health says.
SA TB Services says it is working quickly to identify high-risk close contacts associated with the new cases and provide specialist screening clinics.
Children under five have begun receiving Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination in the APY Lands.
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