Staff and inmates at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre are being screened for tuberculosis after one inmate was hospitalized by the airborne infection.

A memo circulated to WCC staff by acting superintendent Simone Arnold and obtained by the Star warns that staff and inmates "may have been exposed to tuberculosis."

Justice officials confirm that one inmate has been admitted to the Whitehorse General Hospital with a confirmed case of TB. It is not known if the inmate contracted the communicable disease in the WCC.

Starting today, the territory's Communicable Disease Department will be working with WCC management and health care departments to provide information and address concerns.

"In addition, there will be initial TB testing completed of staff and some inmates," reads the memo.

The B.C. Disease Control Centre website, which WCC staff are being directed to, indicates TB testing is performed in two parts.

The first involves a small amount of a "harmless test substance" injected under the first layer of skin on the forearm.

A few days later, the patient's reaction to the test substance is measured, with follow-up chest X-Rays and spit samples sometimes being required.

Management at the WCC are "definitely considering this to be serious," said justice communications staff.

When contracted, TB attacks the lungs. It is spread when a person with TB coughs or sneezes, where anybody nearby is at risk for inhaling airborne TB germs into their lungs.

TB germs can also affect other parts of the body such as the brain, reproductive organs, kidneys, bones, or joints.

Treatments can cure TB, the B.C. Disease Control Centre says, through a regimen of antibiotics for a period of six to nine months. If the patient does not complete the entire cycle of pills, TB can become resistant to medication and result in longer treatments and more serious symptoms, including chest pain and shortness of breath.

Untreated, the disease can lead to death.

Yukon Health and Social Services protocol directs that in the hospital, TB sufferers are kept in isolation to protect other patients and health care workers from becoming infected with TB.

They are asked to wear a mask if they have to leave the rooms, and health care workers wear masks when caring for them.

The memo asks all WCC staff to direct inmates with questions or concerns about TB exposure to medical staff members.

Only those inmates housed in the same unit as the TB-infected inmate will be tested, said justice communications.

WCC corrections staff are not required to be screened for TB upon hiring.

WCC nurses are screened for TB upon hiring, and are only treated if they test positive for the disease. Whitehorse General Hospital staff report there is no immunzation against TB.

Dr. Brendan Hanley, the territory's medical officer who oversees cases of communicable diseases, said today his staff are following the Canadian guidelines for dealing with tuberculosis in institutional settings, including correction centres. He said more details on his plans for this current situation will be released later this afternoon.

The Canadian guidelines, as released by the federal public health agency, state that staff should wear surgical masks and extra care should be taken to ensure air is not recirculated, but pushed outside.

The public health agency has found that TB spreads more frequently in jails because of higher risk factors of inmates, and air circulation geared at security as opposed to controlling airborne infection.

TB is also found to be more prevalent among first nations.

In 2004, 1,613 cases (five per 100,000) of new active and relapsed TB were reported to the Canadian Tuberculosis Reporting System, reads a public health agency report.

First nation members make up 13 per cent to 17 per cent of known Canadian cases.

The Yukon is identified as one of Canada's highest-rated locales for TB infections by the Canada Public Health Agency.