Johns Hopkins cancer research buildings evacuated after possible TB contamination

Cancer research buildings at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center are cleared from the threat of exposure to tuberculosis, the hospital said in a statement Thursday afternoon, hours after fire and rescue teams responded to a possible contamination and evacuated the area.

Public safety officials and infectious disease experts have deemed the areas safe, Kim Hoppe, director of public relations and corporate communications at Johns Hopkins medicine, said in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, employees at the research hospital were transferring frozen tubes of tuberculosis for research purposes on an internal bridge between two buildings, cancer research building 1 and cancer research building 2.

Ms. Hoppe said the tuberculosis was “inadvertently released in a non-patient area” and employees in the area when the release occurred were put in isolation. Baltimore City Fire and Rescue responded to the scene initiating “hazmat protocols” for handling hazardous materials.

Both cancer research buildings were evacuated out of an “abundance of caution” but have now been cleared as safe.

Tuberculosis is serious lung infection and transmitted between people through the air, usually by coughing or sneezing.

It affects less than 3 per 100,000 people per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Efforts to combat TB improved markedly between the 19th and 20th century, however a rise in infections came with the outbreak of HIV in the late 1980s and early 1990s.