Tuberculosis Outbreaks March 2023

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Last reviewed

March 9, 2023

Fact checked by Robert Carlson, MD

Content Overview

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious vaccine-preventible infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs

Tuberculosis Outbreaks March 2023

Tuberculosis (TB) disease is an illness caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB usually affects the lungs and spreads through the air. An estimated 10.6 million people worldwide fell ill with TB in 2021, an increase of 4.5% in one year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2022 Global TB report.

World TB Day 2023 on March 24, 2023, theme 'Yes! We can end TB!' aims to encourage faster uptake of new WHO 2030 recommendations.

Tuberculosis U.S. 2023

The USAID leads the U.S. Government’s global TB Strategy 2023–2030 efforts. TB data from 2021 reveal a rebound in the number of reported cases of TB disease in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported there were about 7,882 TB cases reported in 60 jurisdictions in the U.S. in 2021 (2.4 cases per 100,000 persons), a 9.4% one-year increase, led by Non-Hispanic Asian persons (36%) and Hispanic or Latino persons (30.6%). On March 25, 2022, the U.S. CDC published provisional TB data in a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Tuberculosis in the U.S. 2021. Total TB cases segment by year and country are posted at this CDC link.

"CDC's global laboratory-supported systems and networks are critical for detecting and monitoring HIV and tuberculosis and have also been vital in response to COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks," said Dr. Hank Tomlinson, Director of CDC's Division of Global HIV and TB, in a press statement on February 28, 2023.

Alaska - 96 TB cases in 2022, an increase of 75%. "We have this silent endemic disease that continues to linger, and it's going to take a lot of time and effort," Dr. Anne Zink, stated the state's chief medical officer.

California - In 2021, California reported 1,750 new TB cases, a 3% YoY increase. There were two recent TB outbreaks and 12 ongoing outbreaks in 8 jurisdictions in California.

New York - Data for the state is pending for 2021, but New York City published data for 2020.

Texas - Recent data indicates TB rates are accelerating in certain non-border cities (Dallas and Houston) in 2023. In 2021, 998 cases of TB were reported in Texas, representing an increase of 12.5% from 2020. In 2019, Texas' 32 border counties had an average TB incidence of 8.4 cases per 100,000 people, more than double the state's average and nearly triple the national rate. Additionally, 69% of people diagnosed in a border county were non-U.S. born.

Tuberculosis India 2023

The Government of India's Central TB Division, within the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, leads vaccination efforts in 2023. The TB death rate in India was reported at 35% in 2021. The estimated number of deaths due to TB in India rose by 10%, from 500,000 in 2020 to 505,000 in 2021, noted the WHO's Global TB Report 2022.