Harborview Medical Center confirms that 158 employees are receiving treatment and medical attention after a potential exposure to brucella, a bacteria that can cause the infectious disease, brucellosis.
The exposure occurred in an operating room and a laboratory at Harborview in late June. A patient was transferred from another hospital to Harborview for an urgent operation and later tests revealed that person had brucellosis.
On June 25, a lab worker dropped a test tube with the brucella bacteria in it, potentially exposing lab workers.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, initial symptoms can include fever, sweats, headache, and pain in muscles, joints, or the back.
The CDC states that some symptoms may persist for longer periods of time or never go away, including recurrent fevers, arthritis, swelling of the heart, and neurological symptoms.
The bacteria is found in animals and transmitted to people by drinking unpasteurized milk or by being exposed to bodily fluid from an infected animal.