Tuberculosis cases in the US rose to their highest levels in more than a
dozen years
[March 22, 2025]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — Tuberculosis continued to rise again in the U.S. last
year, reaching its highest levels in more than a dozen years.
More than 10,300 cases were reported last year, an 8% increase from 2023
and the highest since 2011, according to preliminary data posted this
month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Both the number of cases and the rate of infections rose. Rates were up
among all age groups, and 34 states reported an increase.
CDC officials say the rise is the mainly due to international travel and
migration. The vast majority of U.S. TB cases are diagnosed in people
born in other countries. Other illnesses that weaken the immune system
and allow latent TB infections to emerge may also be at play.
Outbreaks in several states have contributed to recent TB trends,
including a recent one in the Kansas City, Kansas area. The Kansas TB
rate jumped 148% last year, according to the new CDC data. Alaska and
Hawaii continue to have the highest case rates.
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This 2006 electron microscope image provided by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention shows Mycobacterium tuberculosis
bacteria, which causes the disease tuberculosis. (Janice Carr/CDC
via AP)
 Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria
that usually attack the lungs, and is spread through the air when an
infectious person coughs or sneezes. If not treated properly, it can
be fatal. In the late 1800s, TB killed one out of every seven people
living in the United States and Europe. But the development of
antibiotics and public health efforts succeeded in treating
infections and tracking down those they infected, leading to cases
falling for decades.
The new CDC statistics are not a count of how many people were newly
infected, but rather of how many people developed a cough or other
symptoms and were diagnosed.
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