A supermarket worker in a central Dutch town has been diagnosed with a virulent form of tuberculosis (TB), sparking the largest health screening of its kind in Dutch history.

Health authorities plan to test around 15,000 people in Zeist, a town of 60,000 inhabitants, to curb an outbreak of the highly infectious and lethal disease.

All visitors to the C1000 supermarket within a three-month period will be screened, a Zeist health authority spokesman said on Monday.

Initial tests have confirmed the 25-year-old employee’s entire family and 40 of 79 co-workers have been infected with TB, he added.

Health officials expect at least 5 percent of the 15,000 people undergoing tests to have been exposed to the infection.

The World Health Organisation warns that unless governments act quickly TB can become a problem in areas where it was thought to be under control.

The infectious disease, which attacks the lungs of both humans and animals causing fever, weight loss and chest pain, has been most prevalent in the developing world, but the number of cases in Europe has been increasing.