MMWR News Synopsis

Tuberculosis — United States, 2018

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

Achieving the goal of tuberculosis elimination in the U.S. will require expanded efforts to control both active TB disease and latent TB infection. According to preliminary 2018 surveillance data, the U.S. has the lowest number of TB cases ever reported. However, the data show slowed progress toward the goal of TB elimination. At the current rate of progress, TB will not be eliminated in the U.S. this century. Data from CDC’s National TB Surveillance System show a total of 9,029 TB cases in 2018 (down from 9,094 in 2017), indicating slight declines in TB cases (down 0.7 percent) and TB rates (down 1.3 percent) compared to the previous year. This leaves the TB rate 28 times higher than the goal for TB elimination. Achieving our national goal to eliminate TB will require expanding detection and treatment of TB disease and latent TB infection and maximizing all available tools such as short course regimens for latent TB infection treatment.

Global Epidemiology of Tuberculosis and Progress Toward Achieving Global Targets — 2017

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

Despite the availability of effective treatments for tuberculosis for 70 years, estimates demonstrate only modest progress in reducing TB to meet global TB 2020 targets. Globally, TB is the leading cause of death by an infectious disease. The Sustainable Development Goals and the End TB Strategy set ambitious targets for reducing the global TB burden. In 2017, there were an estimated 10 million cases of TB worldwide, with an estimated 1.57 million deaths. These numbers demonstrate only modest progress in reducing TB as measured by the number of cases of disease, death, and drug resistance. The rate of decline of these measures must improve to meet global TB 2020 targets. Intensified efforts to improve TB case finding, treatment, and prevention are necessary to decrease the global burden of TB.

• Vital Signs: HIV Transmission Along the Continuum of Care — United States, 2016

• Age-Adjusted Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years Who Reported that They Needed Dental Care During the Past 12 Months but Didn’t Get It Because They Couldn’t Afford It, by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin — National Health Interview Survey, 2017

• World TB Day — March 24, 2019

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.