The Macon County Board of Health elected Garrett Higdon as its new chair following the resignation of former chair Jerry Hermanson.
At the Aug. 26 Board of Health meeting, the board conducted a quick vote to select its new chair and vice chair from the three members currently eligible to fill the role. As part of the health board bylaws, only a member who has served for a period of at least one year is eligible to fill the seat of chair or vice chair. This would exclude every board member except veterinarian Dr. Roy Lenzo, dentist Dr. Matt Corbin and engineer Garrett Higdon.
Of the trio, Lenzo said he did not want the position, and Corbin declined as he currently serves on several other boards. Higdon and Corbin were elected as the board’s new chair and vice chair, respectively.
“I see an opportunity for someone who’s very much willing to [serve],” said Corbin, who previously served as vice chair and was at the time serving as active chair. “I think he’d be wonderful at it. I pledge my full support for Garrett. I told him that he has no other choice for vice chair at this point, but I’d love to help as I can and I still very much plan to be an active part of this board.”
“Thank you for having confidence in me to be the chair here,” Higdon said.
TB investigation
Medical Director Allison Smith updated the board on a tuberculosis (TB) investigation in Macon County. An infected individual from outside the county had interacted with a list of approximately 74 people, Smith said, who the department contacted to recommend screenings to ensure the disease was not propagated in Macon County.
“We have identified all the exposed folks, and they have all been contacted,” Smith said. “We have not yet identified any additional cases … we are continuing to reach out to the folks who have not been screened to try and facilitate that.”
She said the state asked them to screen people as a precautionary measure even though they think the risk for spreading is low. “Most people will have a single screening and that will eliminate latent TB infection and the need to be treated. We haven’t had anybody with symptoms to suggest an active infection or anybody testing positive for latent infection at this point.”
The department has been using IGRA blood tests to identify the disease’s presence, combined with an x-ray for some individuals. Smith said if they had encountered any active cases they would take cultures of the TB bacteria to identify the strand and secure the most effective treatment. For a handful of contacts that were more recently exposed to the infected individual, rescreening was recommended in four weeks.
Rabies vaccines
At the previous meeting, Stephanie Pierce of Macon Moves Animal Care, who was a former animal services employee, requested reinstatement of her credentials to administer rabies vaccines. She lost her credentials after resigning from her position with the Health Department. Pierce said the credentials will allow her to better administer treatment to underserved pet populations in the county.
“All our [Certified Rabies Vaccinators] have been basically sponsored through a shelter, so historically, they’ve been either Animal Services employees or Appalachian Animal Rescue,” said Population Health Administrator Jimmy Villiard. “Usually, when that individual departs the facility, their CRV status is revoked, and that’s for oversight … the individual who came in front of the board requesting to have it was a private individual; historically we have not done that.”
However, Villiard said the department was able to connect with a local animal rescue that was willing to sponsor Pierce and would provide the oversight required to reinstate her credentials.
“That oversight remains critical in safeguarding that, if there are rabies vaccines, that they’re done properly, that the animals are properly immunized … that not only affects the animals, it affects the community,” Villiard said.
Villiard said an agreement with Pierce was under review with the county attorney, and that her credentials would be reinstated when the agreement is approved.
The Board of Health’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23 at 6:16 p.m. in the meeting room of the Human Services building on Lakeside Drive.