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Georgetown

Georgetown's First TB Case Since 2007 Lands on the Capitol Campus

DCpublic healthadvisoryhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On November 26, 2024, Georgetown University issued a Public Health Alert reporting that a Capitol Campus community member had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The university said the DC Department of Health (DC Health) was leading the public-health response, including contact tracing, and would directly notify any community members who needed testing.

Alerts
2
Response
Killed
Injured
Institution
Georgetown University
Private R1 · DC
~21,000 studentsHOYAlert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community, We are writing to inform you that a Capitol Campus community member has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The individual is currently receiving treatment and doing well, and we are providing support and resources. We are working closely with the District of Columbia Department of Health (DC Health), which is leading the public health response including contact tracing, as well as with Georgetown's infectious disease experts. DC Health determines who must be notified or tested based on their level of potential exposure and will directly notify any community members who may need to be tested. For those individuals, testing will be available at the Student Health Center for students, or for faculty and staff through One Medical or their health care provider. DC Health will also have additional testing options available for community members identified as close contacts.
The alert localizes the case to the Capitol Campus rather than the main Hilltop campus, an important geographic cue for Georgetown's multi-campus community.
DC Health is named as the decision-maker on who gets notified or tested, and the alert promises direct contact, again gating action to defined close contacts.
Routing students to the Student Health Center and employees to One Medical reflects Georgetown's bifurcated care system rather than a single campus clinic.
FOLLOW-UPWebsite+4 h
DC Health will hold a virtual information session today, Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 3 p.m. to answer questions about this tuberculosis case and the public health response. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection typically spread through the air when an infected person coughs or speaks. People with active TB disease are most likely to spread TB germs to people they spend time with every day. If you are identified as a close contact, DC Health will reach out to you directly with information about testing.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Scheduling a same-day 3 p.m. virtual information session shows the university pairing the written alert with a live Q&A to defuse anxiety quickly.
The phrasing that TB spreads to 'people they spend time with every day' communicates the close-contact threshold in plain language, narrowing perceived risk.
The repeated assurance that DC Health 'will reach out to you directly' keeps the community from self-presenting for unnecessary testing.
Context

Background

Georgetown's November 2024 tuberculosis alert was notable for being the university's first reported TB case since 2007 and for involving its newer Capitol Campus rather than the main Hilltop. Per the official Public Health Alert, the DC Department of Health led contact tracing and would directly notify anyone needing testing, while the student newspaper The Hoya reported the same-day virtual information session. The case unfolded the same month as the Elmhurst University TB notice in Illinois, and both followed the standard county/district-led TB playbook: a campuswide alert for transparency, paired with narrow, exposure-gated testing. Georgetown's bifurcated care routing (Student Health Center for students, One Medical for employees) reflects its institutional structure.
Analysis

Key Findings

Reported as Georgetown's first TB case since 2007, and located on the Capitol Campus rather than the main Hilltop
DC Health led contact tracing and pledged to directly notify only those needing testing, gating community action
The university paired the written alert with a same-day 3 p.m. virtual information session to address questions quickly
Care was routed differently for students (Student Health Center) and employees (One Medical), reflecting Georgetown's structure
Outcome
The diagnosed individual was receiving treatment and doing well. DC Health determined who must be notified or tested based on exposure level; testing was made available through the Student Health Center and One Medical, and DC Health held a virtual information session on November 26. It was reported as Georgetown's first TB case since 2007.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
  2. Student Paper
  3. Official
Tags
tuberculosispublic-healthcontact-tracingdccapitol-campusadvisory
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion