Of the 496 students and faculty members who were tested for tuberculosis last week, approximately 15 tested positive, according to Brigid O'Brien, director of university communication.

In addition to those 15, another 15 were labeled "indeterminant" and will be retested, she said.

Forty-three people who were tested did not return to have their tests read.

There "are no other known cases of TB on the Marquette campus," O'Brien said.

A person who tests positive for tuberculosis has been exposed to but does not necessarily have the disease.

Over 90 percent of those who test positive never develop active tuberculosis, she said.

"According to (the Milwaukee Health Department), about 2 to 3 percent of college students in the U.S. test positive for TB even in the absence of any known exposure," she said in an e-mail statement from the university. "Therefore, the results at Marquette do not appear to exceed the expected number of positive TB skin tests for a college student population at this time."

The Marquette University Student Health Service and MHD will conduct further testing on those who tested positive, including chest X-rays, O'Brien said.

SHS and the MHD will conduct another skin test in April for those who have not yet been tested.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 1 2005.