1. To the best of your knowledge have you ever had close contact with anyone who was sick with tuberculosis (TB)?
2. Were you born in one of the countries listed below*?
3. Have you traveled or lived for more than one month in one or more of the countries listed below*?
If the answer to any of the above questions is YES, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health strongly recommends that you have a tuberculin skin test to check for latent TB infection.
If the answer to all of the above questions is NO, a tuberculin skin test should not be done.
*Please note: If you have had a positive tuberculin skin test in the past, you do not need another test. If you had the BCG vaccine in the past, a simple blood test may be more appropriate for you.
Please contact UHCS if you would like to schedule a tuberculin skin test or the TB blood test.
COUNTRIES WITH HIGH RATES OF TUBERCULOSIS (TB) (alphabetical listing)*
- A: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan
- B: Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei/Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi
- C: Colombia, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Rep., Chad, China
- D: DR Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Rep., DPK
- E: Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia
- G: Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana
- H: Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong (PRC)
- I: India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran
- K: Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Kyrgyzstan
- L: Lao, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania
- M: Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Morocco, Myanmar, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Macao (PRC), Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia - N: Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, New Caledonia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Niue
- P: Pakistan, PDR, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal
- R: Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda
- S: Rep. Senegal Solomon Islands, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Rep., South Africa, Sao Tome & Principe
- T: Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tokelau, Turkmenistan
- U: Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
- V: Vanuatu, Vietnam
- Y: Yemen
- Z: Zambia, Zimbabwe
* World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis control. WHO report 2002.