Students screened amid TB scare

File photo / NZ Herald

Students at a Bay of Plenty high school are being screened for tuberculosis after a teenager was diagnosed with the disease.

The Te Puke High School student hasn't been at school since before the school holidays.

Letters have been sent home to parents warning of potential symptoms of the infectious disease.

Principal Alan Liddle says the school had to take precautions as the student could have come into contact with others.

"Only in the sense that they've been students at school. The potential risks are actually really small but I think that the health authorities are doing a good job and being thorough and making sure there's no one else with it," he says.

Health authorities will arrive at the school next week to screen the students.

- Newstalk ZB