Amazon confirms outbreak of ‘Victorian disease’ at UK warehouse
Several cases of a rare disease were detected at one of Amazon’s largest UK warehouses.
The online retail giant confirmed that ten people working at its Coventry premises, which employs more than 3,000 people, had tested positive for latent tuberculosis in September.
NHS staff were called to the site this week to carry out blood tests, however no other workers were found to have the disease.
Unlike its active counterpart, latent tuberculosis is not contagious. But Amazon has faced calls to send all staff at the site home while paying them in full for sick leave.
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Health officials said that TB patients were ‘responding well’ to treatment and are no longer infectious.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) West Midlands consultant Dr Roger Gajraj said those who believe they have been in contact with affected workers were being offered tests.
He said: ‘As a precaution, and in line with national guidance, we are offering testing to those who may have had closer contact with the affected individuals. The overall risk remains low.
‘TB is fully treatable with antibiotics. We continue to work closely with Amazon to monitor the situation.’
However, the GMB Union called for the warehouse to be closed following the outbreak and should not be reopened until ‘appropriate infection control measures’ are put in place.
What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis is a contagious disease predominantly affecting the lungs, but it can also cause symptoms in other parts of the body.
Most infections are of the ‘latent’ variety, which is asymptomatic.
However a small percentage of latent infections can become active and, if left untreated, fatal.
TB was common in the Victorian times and one of the biggest killers in overcrowded cities like London. Since the 1940s, Europe has seen a steady decline in TB cases, thanks to improved hygiene practices, vaccines and better treatment including antibiotics.
Currently the majority of global cases of TB are now detected in low income countries.
According to the WHO, around 11 million people contract the disease each year, of which up to 95 per cent to do not have any symptoms.
Senior organiser Amanda Gearing said: ‘Currently, Amazon is putting all workers, site visitors, and the local and wider communities at risk of exposure to a serious infectious disease.
‘Coventry Amazon risks becoming the engine room of a mass TB outbreak of a scale not seen for decades.
‘Immediate and decisive action – including the temporary closure of Amazon Coventry – is required to prevent this.’
Symptoms for tuberculosis include a cough that lasts for three weeks, according to NHS guidance.
It can also cause tiredness, exhaustion, a high temperature as well as a loss of appetite and weight.
While latent TB is not thought to produce any symptoms, it can later become an active strain.
In 2024, nearly 5,500 people tested positive for tuberculosis in the UK, a 13.6 per cent uptick on the previous year, UKHSA data shows.
A spokesperson for Amazon said: ‘Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our team members.
‘Last year, ten people who work at our Coventry fulfilment centre tested positive for non-contagious TB.
‘In line with best practice safety procedures, we immediately followed guidance from the NHS and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and made all employees potentially affected aware of the situation.
‘Out of an abundance of caution, we are currently running an expanded screening programme with the NHS.
‘To date, no additional cases have been identified, and our site continues to run as normal.’
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