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The Texas
Department of State Health Services is advising anyone
who may have received a tattoo at a Tyler apartment to
contact their doctor or public health officials.
The
apartment, located at 2601 N. Broadway Ave., is not a
licensed tattoo facility. Home-based tattoo studios are
illegal in Texas.
DSHS issued
a cease and desist letter yesterday to the tattooist for
operating a tattoo facility without a license. A disease
control investigation was prompted when DSHS discovered
that a person with a communicable disease may have
received a tattoo at the location.
DSHS
has since discovered at least 20 other people, including
minors, who received tattoos at the apartment. Those
individuals are being tested.
Risk
of disease transmission exists if standards are not
being met and tattoo instruments contaminated with blood
are not sterilized or are used inappropriately between
clients.
Health
officials urge anyone who thinks they received a tattoo
at the apartment or at any unlicensed location
to contact their health care provider or call DSHS at
(903) 533-5330.
All contacts are confidential. DSHS will provide routine
screening and laboratory testing for HIV, hepatitis B
and hepatitis C if needed.
DSHS also has referred
the matter to the Tyler Police Department and the Smith
County district attorney’s office.
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