About 900 listed as close contacts in NTU tuberculosis case: Health minister

Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) Around 900 people have been listed as close contacts of a student at National Taiwan University (NTU) who was diagnosed with tuberculosis, a case authorities have determined as an isolated infection rather than a cluster, Health Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said Thursday.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Shih said that after a foreign student at NTU was diagnosed with tuberculosis, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Taipei's Department of Health drew up a list of close contacts to monitor their health.

He said that those who spent more than eight hours in the same space as the patient on a single day, or had over 40 hours of cumulative contact, are listed as close contacts.

They will be required to undergo chest X-rays and blood tests to screen for possible infection, including latent cases, Shih said, adding that cooperating with the screening is required by law.

Shih said the number of close contacts is relatively high because authorities traced exposure back to the student's time of diagnosis and arrival in Taiwan.

He, nevertheless, reiterated that the case is being treated as a single infection rather than a cluster.

CDC spokesperson Lin Min-cheng (林明誠) said he could not confirm when the student arrived in Taiwan, but noted that the infectious period has lasted more than three months, contributing to the high number of close contacts.

Lin added that the source of the infection is still being clarified.

According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that most often affects the lungs and can spread through the air when people with the disease cough or sneeze.

As of Dec. 3, the CDC had recorded 5,019 cases in Taiwan in 2025.