Tuberculosis (TB) Testing Clinic

Visit the Cherry Lane Branch as a central location in the Treasure Valley for TB testing offered from Central District Health. 

How TB works:

• TB is a respiratory bacterium. It spreads when someone with active TB coughs the bacteria into the air and it is breathed in by someone else.
• TB is a very slow grower. When it first gets into the body, the immune system forms an “envelope” around the bacteria. This bacterium can be held in this “envelope” for forever. While it is in the “envelope”, the person with the bacteria in their body is not sick and they can’t spread the infection.
• Sometimes the immune system is suppressed enough (by things like aging, medications, cancer, etc.) that the envelope opens. When this happens, the person is considered to have active TB. At this point, the person gets sick and can spread the infection.
• People who have TB in the “envelope”, called TB infection or latent TB, will test positive on a skin or blood test. The TB bacteria can be killed by antibiotics at this point and the person will never get sick with TB.
• If you feel you may be sick with active TB, please seek urgent medical attention