Alberta Health Services is notifying attendees and staff of a Calgary daycare about a possible tuberculosis infection that they may have been exposed to.

AHS says the case is not a risk to the general public and the main reason it is making the announcement is due to transparency.

Officials say they will not be identifying the daycare at the centre of the incident and AHS will be directly notifying those believed to have been exposed.

The TB Services and Communicable Disease Control Teams, along with the Medical Officer of Health and pediatric clinicians are working to provide follow up screening, a routine procedure given these types of situations.

No further details will be released in order to protect patient and family confidentiality.

Tuberculosis is an airborne bacterium that is spread when germs are inhaled.

In most cases, they do not cause any symptoms of illness and the infection only progresses to a disease once the germs become active.

Active Infectious Pulmonary TB Cases, by Zone:

Zone 2014 2015 2016*
North 9 14 19
Edmonton 55 32 29
Central 4 5 4
Calgary 54 32 28
South 4 5 6
Total 126 88 86

*2016 numbers are from Jan 1/16 to Aug 31/16

The key to prevent development and spread is early diagnosis and prompt, preventative treatment.

Symptoms of TB disease in the lungs may include a cough productive of phlegm lasting more than three weeks, loss of appetite, loss of weight, tiredness, night sweats, fever and blood in the sputum.

It can be treated with a combination of TB medications taken regularly for six to nine months.