University staff were also described as "unhelpful and unwilling to meet" to discuss ACT Health's contact screening procedures, with public health employees opting to push on without the strategy meeting as summer holidays approached.

An international student was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, believed to have been caught overseas, in August last year.

A close contact of the Masters student was found to have latent tuberculosis which further widened the net of who needed to be screened.

One email to ANU HR noted that "timeliness is key in this public health contact screening", but a string of correspondence between the university and health officials reveals frustration within the directorate as the university delayed meeting.

"ANU have been quite unhelpful and unwilling to meet, so the emails [to people who need to be screened] will need to go out from the TB clinic [instead of the university]," one public health official wrote to another on October 31.

The staff member responded: "I'm not sure when they'll be sent out & very disappointed these weren't sent last week.

"Could you make this a priority please and if possible could they be send by COB tomorrow?"

ANU staff met with ACT Health on November 10. The next day, a human resources staff member emailed through the details of students and staff involved in an Introductory Academic Program course attended by the infected student.

Student Life deputy director Stephen Milnes was then reprimanded for ignoring ACT Health procedures and contacting staff himself to alert them to the infection without providing all the suggested information.

He was the second staff member to ignore ACT Health processes after a researcher told students about the infection in an online forum.

"Whilst I appreciate you were trying to be helpful, it is our responsibility to inform contacts and arrange their screening," epidemiologist Marlena Kaczmarek wrote to Mr Milnes.

Later, she wrote to a health staff member: "I really wish people wouldn't take things upon themselves when its not their job!"

More names and details trickled through to ACT Health on November 14 and 21. One ANU HR staff member suggested Health lodge a more formal request for student and staff contact details to put their supervisor, who was concerned about privacy, at ease.

Once the relevant legislation was quoted, an ANU HR staff member promised to "action your request immediately".

In all, ACT Health sought the details of 101 medium risk contacts, some outside the ANU, and 181 low risk contacts. No active cases were identified from the 21 screenings conducted, ACT Health confirmed this week.

A university spokesman this week defended the ANU's response, detailed through a Freedom of Information request to ACT Health.

"ACT Health asked ANU to assist in identifying anyone who may have come into contact with the person," he said.

"Privacy requirements mean that the university needed to contact people before passing on their contact details to another organisation.

"Contacting staff and students was complicated by people being on leave, overseas or having left the university, but we sought to carry out that activity as quickly as possible. We understand that no further public health risk was found to exist."

An ACT Health spokesman said this week the directorate "appreciated" the university faced logistical challenges.

"The process of identifying and contacting a large number of people can be challenging in the environment of a large university," he said.

"That's why ACT Health supported ANU to effectively collate the detailed information required for the TB Clinic to commence screening, as per the national guidelines.

"Overall, ACT Health believes this matter was handled acceptably by the ANU."

Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria and usually attacks the lungs. It may be spread by coughing or sneezing and is treatable with antibiotics.