Tacoma woman with TB released from jail

A Tacoma woman who was jailed in early June, after refusing to get treated for tuberculosis for more than a year, has been released from the Pierce County Jail.

The Tacoma Pierce County Health Department says a judge authorized her release on Friday, June 23. She is now under home detention.

According to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department: "Judge Philip Sorensen issued an order today releasing this patient from the Pierce County Jail with conditions. This will allow her to isolate at home under court supervision. We will continue to work with her to provide testing and treatment to help cure her tuberculosis."

She served half of her 45-day treatment in jail after health officials took the rare step of seeking an arrest warrant to keep the woman from spreading the highly contagious disease.

This is the latest chapter in the case of tuberculosis in Tacoma. Despite the risk to the public being "very low," according to the health department, authorities pressed the woman to get treatment for TB. She repeatedly refused. An arrest warrant was issued in March, but the woman eluded authorities before being taken into custody in early June.

Around 20-25 people in Pierce County come down with a case of tuberculosis each year, however, most get treatment. The health department previously told KUOW that about three people over the past two decades have refused treatment.