Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Report: Foxconn Workers Hit with TB

PARDUBICE, EAST BOHEMIA -- A local tuberculosis outbreak is affecting workers at Foxconn's plant here, according to reports in local papers.

Three more cases of TB infection were reported late last week, bringing to nine the total number of infected Foxconn workers. In all, 29 cases of TB have been reported in the Pardubice region since the beginning of the year, the report said.

The infected Foxconn employees are Mongolians, according to the report. Two are afflicted with open TB. Some of the workers are said to have shared living quarters.

TB starts as a small infection in the lung, but can spread to other parts of the body and can cause illness or death if left untreated. Active (open) TB is a highly infectious form of the disease.

The region typically reports about 50 cases of TB annually," officials said.

In response, Foxconn is reportedly toughening its admission checkups for foreign employees.