The Adams County Health Department has confirmed one active case of tuberculosis disease in a detainee at the GEO Aurora U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center during a public health investigation.

The investigation is ongoing, and department officials are looking into media reports and allegations of additional cases but have not yet verified any others, according to a news release from the county.

GEO is required by law to notify local health authorities when they are aware of tuberculosis cases, and it has not informed the ACHD of any additional ones.

Tuberculosis is an airborne disease that is preventable and curable, but can cause severe lung damage, spread to other organs and cause permanent disability or death if not treated.

Colorado law states that local public health agencies are required to investigate every confirmed tuberculosis case, a process that includes a patient interview, medical record review, contact identification and notification, testing, treatment and follow-up.

Department officials requested information on the patient’s medical and other records, but GEO did not voluntarily provide them. The ACHD issued a Public Health Order in late June requiring compliance. ACHD officials said they have not received all of the information needed to complete the investigation.

The full scope of potential exposures is still unknown.

In recent months, Aurora City Council members debated and passed two ordinances requiring periodic inspections of and more regulated disease reporting from detention facilities in the city, including the GEO one.

Aurora’s new ordinances were made in response to a report released in March by a coalition of nonprofit organizations around the metro Denver area that claimed a variety of inadequate living conditions and medical concerns at the GEO facility.

The report was put together by Housekeys Action Network Denver, Casa de Paz, American Friends Service Committee and Aurora Unidos CSO.

According to the report, concerns included poor or no treatment for medical conditions, insufficient nutrition, poor sleeping conditions and inhumane treatment.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson called the claims of poor conditions “false,” saying all detainees are provided proper meals, medical treatment, hygiene products and opportunities to communicate with lawyers and family members.

The Denver Gazette contacted GEO for comment, but did not hear back by the time this story published.