Health officials trace contacts of Riga eatery worker with tuberculosis

Latvia’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has begun tracing people who may have been exposed to tuberculosis after a worker at a Riga eatery was diagnosed, LSM reports. Officials say customers who ate food prepared there are not at risk.

The patient, an Indian national, was found unconscious on a Riga street last Friday and later diagnosed with tuberculosis during further examinations at Stradins Hospital. He is being treated at the Centre for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases and is in serious condition. Latvian Television reported that his condition may be related to suspected drug use rather than tuberculosis.

The health centre is seeking the patient’s contacts among people he lived, studied or worked with. Epidemiologist Sigita Geida said officials would identify his workplace and educational institution and work with their managers to find people who may have been exposed.

The centre said the man had worked at a kebab shop, but it has not confirmed that he was a cook. Tuberculosis spreads through the air, and the greatest risk is to people who worked in the same room as the patient, Geida said. She added that a chest X-ray is required before a person receives a residence permit and that tuberculosis has a long incubation period.

The Food and Veterinary Service will also inspect the workplace. Its food distribution supervision department head, Vineta Grinberga, said employers are responsible for ensuring that workers known or suspected to be ill are not assigned duties involving direct contact with food.