Riverdale Wal-Mart worker tests positive for TB

By KATIE LESLIE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Wal-Mart employee in Riverdale has tested positive for tuberculosis, prompting between 60 and 70 other employees to be tested for the disease, health officials confirmed Thursday.

The Clayton County Health Department learned that an unidentified employee tested positive the first week of August, said spokeswoman Veronda Griffin. Health officials then offered testing to the other Wal-Mart associates. The Riverdale Wal-Mart is located at 7050 Highway 85.

Griffin said other employees’ test results are expected this week. She did not know the status of the person with confirmed TB.

A Wal-Mart spokesperson declined to comment on the employee’s condition and whether that person has returned to work.

“Out of concern for our associates, we will not be making comment about health-related issues,” Ashley Hardie said.

Tuberculosis is a communicable disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis which usually attacks the lungs, but can also affect the kidney, spine, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If left untreated, the disease can be fatal.