Jennifer Killin | Del Rio News-Herald

A second round of testing for tuberculosis among local schoolchildren has been postponed until early fall, a health official said.

Testing for the disease began after a single case was discovered at Del Rio Middle School in late January. In that instance, the patient had been sick for nearly a year before tuberculosis was identified as the cause, said Dr. Sandra Guerra, the Texas Department of State Health Services Region 8 Medical Director and Val Verde County Local Health Authority.

Early on in the investigation the state opted to test around 270 people closely linked to the patient. Of those initially tested, 10 returned with a positive skin test.

A positive skin test does not mean a person is ill, said Guerra, explaining that persons can carry the dormant tuberculosis bacteria all their lives and never become sick.

As testing continued, more cases were discovered and the investigation was expanded to include the Del Rio Freshman School and some private schools.

Guerra said around 2,500 people received a tuberculosis skin test during the weeklong evaluation in March.

A second round of testing, set for May, was postponed as state health officials put their focus on handling the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as swine flu.

Guerra said anyone who had a positive skin test in the first round of testing has been evaluated by the state and patients believed to have an active case of the disease have been removed from the public setting.

She said the second round of testing would be held once students return to school in the fall.

According to information found on the Texas Department of State Health Services web page - www.dshs.state.tx.us - Val Verde County is one of 12 Texas counties considered at "highest risk" for tuberculosis.

The information on the web site indicates that "highest risk counties" are those with a "three-year average rate of tuberculosis greater than two times higher that the Texas state average."

According to the information presented on the web page, 10 tuberculosis cases were reported in Val Verde County in 2003. In 2004, three cases were reported. Ten cases were reported here in both 2005 and 2006, and five cases of tuberculosis were reported in 2007.