( CNN ) -- More than 700 infants and 40 health care workers have been exposed to tuberculosis , commonly called TB , at a hospital in El Paso , Texas , according to the city 's Department of Public Health . Health officials are not yet saying if any of the people exposed have tested positive for the disease . An employee at Providence Memorial Hospital in El Paso came to work with an active case of TB some time between September 2013 and August 2014 . He or she worked with infants in the nursery and in the post-partum unit at the hospital , the health department says . The hospital has identified 706 infants and 43 workers who were exposed to the disease during that time period . The family of each patient was sent a certified letter and is being contacted via telephone with instructions on how to get tested for TB . Any necessary follow-up care will be provided free of charge by the health department and the hospital . The infected health care worker is no longer working and is receiving treatment , the owner of the hospital , Sierra Providence Health Network , said in a statement . Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that generally causes coughing , chest pain and difficulty breathing , according to the Mayo Clinic . An estimated 2 billion people worldwide have what 's called latent TB , where the bacteria remain dormant and do n't cause symptoms . `` Once in the body , the bacteria usually lay dormant for months or years before they begin to grow and cause a case of active TB , '' the City of El Paso 's Department of Public Health said in a statement . `` That is why it is so important to identify people who may have been exposed , screen them , and provide treatment . '' The bacteria that cause TB spread through the air when an infected patient coughs or sneezes , but it 's not a highly contagious disease ; close contact over a longer period of time is required before another person becomes infected , according to the Mayo Clinic . Only active TB can be spread . The Texas Department of State Health Services conducted an on-site investigation at Providence Memorial Hospital last week and cited the hospital `` for deficiencies that represent immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety , '' said Carrie Williams , the department 's director of media relations . Investigators `` found serious deficiencies in the areas of infection control , patient rights and governing body . '' The Center for Medicare Services has placed the hospital on a termination track , said David Wright , deputy regional administrator for CMS in Dallas . He said CMS is giving the hospital until October 11 to identify policy changes that need to happen to ensure something like this wo n't happen again . If the hospital fails to do so , its Medicaid and Medicare funding will be cut off . `` This is one of the largest TB exposure investigations we 've ever been involved in , and it involves infants , so it is particularly sensitive , '' Williams said . `` Babies are more likely than older children and adults to develop life-threatening forms of TB . '' Patients with TB must take antibiotics for six to nine months . Some strains of TB are resistant to antibiotics , which makes them more dangerous . Without treatment , TB can be fatal , the Mayo Clinic says . There is one vaccine for TB -- Bacille Calmette-Guerin , known as BCG -- that is not widely used in the United States , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; it is given more often to children in countries where TB is common . There were 9,582 recorded cases of TB in the United States last year . In October , health officials identified 140 infants who may have been exposed to tuberculosis in a similar incident at a hospital in Nevada . CNN 's Matthew Stucker contributed to this story .
Hospital worker in El Paso , Texas , came to work with active case of TB . 706 infants and 43 workers were exposed to TB . TB is an infectious disease , but not highly contagious .