Nearly two dozen patients at two Sydney hospitals are being screened for tuberculosis after they were potentially exposed to the disease.
It comes after a man in his 30s was recently diagnosed with TB after attending Royal Prince Alfred and St Vincent's Public hospitals between February and April.
His symptoms were not typical of TB when he presented to doctors, the NSW Health Department said on Thursday.
Twenty-two people in the same ward as the man are being screened as a precaution.
The department's director of health protection, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, sought to reassure the public and said TB was not easily spread from person to person.
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"There is no ongoing risk to patients, staff or visitors of either hospital," he said in a statement.
"Generally, transmission of TB typically occurs after close, prolonged contact with a person who is infectious at the time."
When a patient becomes infected, they will not progress to TB 90 per cent of the time with the help of special antibiotics, he added.
The incidence of TB in Australia is very low - about 1300 diagnosed cases each year - and the country has a long history of successfully containing and treating the disease, the department said.
