Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis through casual contact with an infectious case

Background: An ongoing restriction fragment length polymorphism study of My cobacterium tuberculosis isolates from tuberculosis cases showed an identic al 12-band IS6110 pattern unique to 3 unrelated patients (Patients A-C) dia gnosed as having tuberculosis within a 9-month period. Methods: In an attempt to identify epidemiologic links between the 3 patien ts, we performed site visits to the retail business work site of patient A and conducted detailed interviews with all 3 patients and their contacts. Results: Patient B had visited patient A's work site 3 times during patient A's infectious period, spending no more than 15 minutes each time. Patient C visited patient A's work site on 6 to 10 occasions during this period fo r no more than 45 minutes at any one time. There were no other epidemiologi c links between these 3 cases other than the contact at the store. Contact investigation identified 4 tuberculin skin test conversions among 8 (50%) o f patient A's coworkers, 6 positive tests among 15 household contacts (40%) , and 8 positive tests among 16 identified customers who were casual contac ts (50%). Patient B and patient C were most likely infected by patient A du ring one of their brief visits to patient A's work site. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that some tuberculosis is spread throug h casual contact not normally pursued in traditional contact investigations and that, in certain situations, M tuberculosis can be transmitted despite minimal duration of exposure. In addition, this outbreak emphasizes the im portance of DNA fingerprinting data for identifying unusual transmission in unexpected settings.