TB on the Rise: Kansas Faces Major Outbreak

For a long time, tuberculosis (TB) cases in the US have been on a steady decline. But now, Kansas is seeing a significant surge in new cases, making it one of the largest outbreaks since the 1950s. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported 110 active TB cases and 632 latent cases in 2024. Health officials are working hard to find all active and latent cases and provide treatment before the situation worsens. Active TB can be fatal if left untreated, with symptoms like coughing, chest pains, and chills. It's highly contagious. Latent TB, on the other hand, doesn't have symptoms and can't be spread, but it can become active at any time. Both types can be treated with antibiotics over several months.

TB has been around for thousands of years, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria and mostly affecting the lungs. Although the percentage of fatal cases has dropped, TB is still the world's leading infectious killer. In the US, treatments are available, but cases started rising again after 2020 and COVID-19, reaching 8, 331 in 2022. People in crowded settings like homeless shelters and prisons are more at risk. It takes about 10 days of treatment for someone with active TB to stop being infectious. The KDHE is working with the CDC to tackle this outbreak, and they're making progress.

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