World TB Day 2009
Education and intervention efforts targeting those at high risk for TB are essential to eliminate this disease in the U.S.
World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is March 24, 2009. World TB Day provides an opportunity to communicate TB-related problems and solutions and to support worldwide TB-control efforts. Although the number of TB cases is slowly decreasing in the U.S., TB still affects thousands of Americans each year and hundreds die from the disease annually.
TB is an airborne infectious disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The bacteria are put into the air when a person with active TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. Every person with TB disease has the potential to infect others, if not promptly diagnosed and treated. Despite efforts targeted at interrupting transmission, all 50 states and the District of Columbia continue to report TB cases. In 2008, a total of 12,898 cases were provisionally reported. This represents a decline of 2.9% from 2007 and of 54% from 1980.
In 2008, there were 5,283 U.S.-born cases of TB provisionally reported. The number of TB cases is highest among blacks or African Americans who represent 43% of all U.S.-born cases. Whites have the second-highest burden, representing 33% of U.S.-born cases, followed by Hispanics or Latinos (18%), Asians (3%), American Indians or Alaska Natives (3%), and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders (1%). Those of multiple or unknown race/ethnicity made up less than 1% of the total of U.S.-born TB cases. It is important to note that U.S.-born cases of TB represent less than half of the total cases in the United States; 59% of all TB cases were among foreign-born persons in 2008.
Although rates of TB in both U.S.-born blacks and whites have declined substantially over the past decade, TB among these persons remains a concern. Certain risk factors for TB, including homelessness, incarceration, and a recent history of intravenous drug and alcohol abuse, are high among both U.S.-born blacks and whites. Education and intervention efforts targeted toward populations at high risk for TB are essential to reach the goal of TB elimination in the U.S.
Data sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reported Tuberculosis in the United States, 2007. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, September 2008.
TB Challenge, Spring 2007, http://www.cdc.gov/tb/TB_Challenge/spring_2007/default.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trends in Tuberculosis --- United States, 2008. MMWR 2009;58:[249-253].
More Information
- CDC TB
- TB: General Information (fact sheet) – English and Spanish
- TB Surveillance Reports
- CDC World TB Day
- CDC World TB Day Feature
- Send a World TB Day eCard
