A "person associated" with Vallejo High School has been diagnosed with contagious tuberculosis, officials said Monday.

Officials have launched an investigation to determine who else might have been exposed to the bacterial lung disease, said Dr. Ronald W. Chapman, deputy director of Solano County Public Health. The probe marks the largest Solano public health outreach since a TB case at Vacaville High School four years ago.

Because the airborne disease is transmitted by coughing, talking or sneezing at close range, or exposure of at least eight hours in close quarters, Chapman said the probability of anyone at the school catching it is "really, really, really low." The germ must be inhaled to be transmitted.

Students, faculty and staff who have had close or prolonged contact with the patient may be asked to take a skin test to determine if they were exposed, Chapman said. The patient's family and other close contacts will also be tested.

Parents were notified about the diagnosis Monday by an automatic phone message and letters will be mailed to the full school community Tuesday, district spokeswoman Tish Busselle said. A public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 31 in the school library at 840 Nebraska St.

"Vallejo High School is cooperating 100 percent with Solano Public Health" principal Phi Saroyan said in a prepared statement. "We have very few days left in the school year to do the investigation and provide free tests for the TB germ before our staff and students go on summer vacation."

Saroyan asked for "full cooperation so that we can move through the screening and testing process quickly to protect our students and staff."

Chapman declined to give any details about the patient's age, gender or affiliation with the school, citing privacy concerns. "The general public does not need not know who the case is," he said.

He also declined to say where in Vallejo the patient was diagnosed, again saying such details were irrelevant to public notification. He did say the patient is in stable condition and taking several medications.

Chapman said he is not aware of other Solano County patients presenting similar symptoms, which include a severe cough, fever, weakness, night sweats, weight loss and other flu-like symptoms. Tuberculosis must be reported by law to public health officials.

Nurses launched the investigation Friday after the patient was diagnosed Thursday. Chapman said his office waited until today to notify the public after meeting with school officials about who might have been exposed.

Officials are investigating how the patient contracted the disease, but may never know because illness does not often follow exposure, Chapman said. The germ can lie latent for several decades, and only one out of 10 patients infected ever gets sick, he said.

Most TB patients recover, although some experience long-term illness, Chapman said. There are currently 40 other active TB cases countywide.