Occupational tuberculosis and a failed postgraduate medical examination

A 40 year old pathologist presented with a tuberculous pleural effusion approximately one year after performing an autopsy as part of a postgraduate medical examination. She had made a diagnosis of disseminated tuberculosis but was told that this was incorrect and failed the examination. Bladder tissue from the cadaver was subsequently found to have grown M tuberculosis though none was cultured from lung tissue. No particular precautions against airborne infection were taken at the time of the autopsy and we speculate not only that the pathologist's original diagnosis was correct but that she became infected with M tuberculosis during the examination.