Kansas officials say tuberculosis outbreak is largest on record in US history
Kansas officials say tuberculosis outbreak is largest on record in US history
Share:
Department of health reports ‘rapid number of cases in a short amount of time’ and says that there could be more. Kansas is facing an unprecedented outbreak of tuberculosis, one that has been labeled the largest of its kind on record in the US. According to the Kansas state department of health and environment, as of 24 January, there had been 67 active tuberculosis cases since 2024 and an additional 79 latent or non-active infections. The infections – all since 2024 – were reported in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, which are part of the greater Kansas City area.
Jill Bronaugh, the communications director for the Kansas department of health and environment, described the outbreak as the “largest documented [tuberculosis] outbreak in US history” since the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began monitoring and reporting cases of the illness in the 1950s.
“This is mainly due to the rapid number of cases in the short amount of time,” Bronaugh told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “This outbreak is still ongoing, which means that there could be more cases.”. State officials have said that the majority of tuberculosis cases have occurred in Wyandotte county and have emphasized that there is a “very low risk to the general public, including the surrounding counties”.
