NINETY-FOUR students and staff at Teign School, Kingsteignton, have tested positive for tuberculosis.
It follows the screening of nearly 300 pupils and staff who have been referred for further testing and review with the specialist respiratory physicians at Torbay Hospital.
Public Health England (PHE), which is working with the NHS and local authority colleagues in south Devon, confirmed the latest situation, and as a precaution is expanding screening to include all remaining students and staff at Teign School before the end of the school term.
During March public health officials stated that a student at Teign School was suffering from TB and that two other cases had been confirmed in former pupils.
In a statement today PHE said those students had been treated and were no longer infectious.
The PHE was quick to point out that a positive screen result did not usually mean that they have infectious TB. In most cases, a positive screen result is indicative of latent (non-infectious) TB.
It added: 'Latent TB means that someone has had exposure to the TB bacteria at some time in their life, not necessarily through this incident. Positive results could have been caused by a source case within the school environment, the wider community or alternatively there may be a previous source of exposure.
'TB is a bacterial infection, which is treated with antibiotics and generally the risk to others is low.'
Sarah Harrison, deputy director of health protection for the Devon, Cornwall and Somerset Public Health England Centre, said letters were sent to all students and staff who were tested.
'Those with a positive screen test have been referred to local TB services for further investigation and treatment if necessary.
'Whilst the number of positive results at Teign School is higher than we would expect, most people who test positive following screening are found to have latent TB.
'People who have latent TB infection have been exposed to TB, but they do not feel ill and do not have any symptoms. There is no risk of onwards transmission from a person with latent TB,' said Dr Harrison.
She added that most people with latent TB would never develop an active infection, especially if they received antibiotics.
'But it is important that people with latent TB are aware of their status if they do develop an active infection. People who do develop TB disease are not infectious in the early stages of illness. TB is normally a curable infection which can be treated effectively with antibiotics, particularly if found early,' she said.
Dr Harrison emphasised that it was important to remember that TB is not easy to catch.
'It is spread through the air when someone with infectious TB coughs; however it requires a close and lengthy contact to catch the disease, usually lasting several hours on several occasions and in the same room,' said Dr Harrison.
TB symptoms include fatigue, weight loss, weakness, fever, sweating and loss of appetite, although these may also occur in other illnesses.
When the lungs are affected, the patient may have a chronic cough (lasting three weeks or more). This may be dry or there may be sputum and sometimes blood coughed up.