SCIOTO COUNTY— In addition to the much-discussed electric and natural gas aggregation issues on the ballot Tuesday for Portsmouth and unincorporated areas of Scioto County will be a countywide renewal for the local tuberculosis clinic.

The ballot issue a renewal, which means voters are already funding the TB clinic and, if approved, will continue to pay $28 per $100,000 of the county auditor appraised value for five years.

The issue provides for the TB clinic, which has “the purpose of providing care, diagnosis, and treatment of in- and out-patients, maintenance and hospitalization of residents of Scioto County suffering from tuberculosis at hospitals and to provide for the support of tuberculosis clinics …”

The total collected, according tot he county auditor, will be $130,000 annually at a rate not exceeding 0.3 mill for each $1 of taxable value. The tax will begin again in 2024 and be due in 2025.

Tuberculosis is spread through the air. Symptoms include a cough, chest pain, night sweats, weight loss, weakness, chills, and fever. The hardest hit individuals tend to be foreign-born individuals, people with diabetes, and individuals who use drugs and alcohol. The Ohio Department of Health advises people at increased risk get tested for TB, and that treating latent TB infection prevents full-blown disease.

The local TB clinic, funded through local property taxes, funds testing and treatment as well as education of healthcare providers.

There have been no tuberculosis deaths in Scioto County in the last five years, according to ODH statistics. In 2022, the most recent year available, only 145 people in Ohio were diagnosed with TB.