OMAHA, Neb. -- A University of Nebraska Medical Center processes cases of tuberculosis as Nebraska's clearinghouse for TB data.

The Nebraska Public Health Lab collects all samples of tuberculosis in the state and works with the federal government to find where it spread from. The lab is level 3 -- the highest containment level in the state.

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TB Lab Tracks Cases

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Kathy Talmon is a medical technologist at the Nebraska Medical Center who works with samples inside the lab. TB is easily spread through the air, so the lab is negatively pressurized to help prevent the spread.

"It's something I'm used to handling and I try to be very careful with it all the time," Talmon said.

"When people work within the laboratory, if there were to be any aerosols created with an organism, it would automatically be sucked out the exhaust rather than into the lab itself," said microbiologist Dr. Peter Iwen.

It is the only lab in Nebraska that works hand in hand with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track the origin of each case of TB in the state. Last year, the lab collected reports of 25 cases statewide, of which 10 cases were in Douglas County. About 10 positive TB tests have passed through the lab in 2008.

Iwen said he isn't exactly sure why the state is seeing an increase in cases.

"Certainly there are more immigrants and refugees coming into the state, and that would be a prime source of where some of these cultures are coming from," Iwen said.

Iwen said TB is one of the most feared diseases in the world. He said that most people who get infected with the organism get a latent form and don't show symptoms.

"But the organism hangs out in their lungs and if they got compromised in any way or as they get older it could reactivate and produce active disease," Iwen said.

He said that's when it's most likely to be deadly.

Those who work in the lab are tested annually for tuberculosis.