2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 25 - Public Health and Environment
Disease Control
Article 4 - Disease Control
Part 5 - Tuberculosis
§ 25-4-500.3. Definitions

As used in this part 5, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Active tuberculosis" means a diagnosis of tuberculosis demonstrated by clinical, bacteriologic, or diagnostic imaging evidence, or a combination thereof. A person who has been diagnosed as having active tuberculosis and has not completed a course of antituberculosis treatment is still considered to have active tuberculosis and may be infectious.

(2) "Board of health" means the state board of health created in section 25-1-103.

(3) "Contact" means a person who has shared the same air space with a person who has active tuberculosis.

(4) "Contagious" means having a disease that may be transmitted from one living person to another through direct or indirect contact.

(5) "Department" means the department of public health and environment.

(6) "Health officer" means the executive director of the department, the state chief medical officer, and county or district public health directors.

(7) "Infectious" means contagious.

(8) "Isolation" means separation of a person infected, or suspected to be infected, with tuberculosis from other persons to prevent the spread of tuberculosis.

(9) "Latent tuberculosis infection" means that tuberculosis organisms are present in a person's body, but the person does not have tuberculosis or symptoms, nor is the person infectious. Such a person usually has a positive reaction to the tuberculin skin test.

(10) "Local health officer" means the chief medical health officer of a county, district, or municipal public health agency or the health officer for a public health nursing service.

(11) "Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis" means tuberculosis caused by tuberculosis organisms that are resistant to at least the drugs isoniazid and rifampin.

(12) "Screening" means measures used to identify persons who have active tuberculosis or latent tuberculosis infection.

(13) "State chief medical officer" means the chief medical officer of the department, as described in section 25-1-105, or the executive director of the department.

(14) "Suspected case of active tuberculosis", "suspected case of tuberculosis", "suspected tuberculosis", or "suspected tuberculosis case" means a diagnosis of tuberculosis is being considered for a person, whether or not antituberculosis therapy has been started.

(15) "Tubercle bacilli" means tuberculosis organisms.

(16) "Tuberculosis" means a potentially fatal contagious disease caused by the bacterial microorganisms of the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex that can affect almost any part of the body but most commonly affects the lungs.