A prolonged tuberculosis outbreak in the Kansas City, Kansas, area has left health experts alarmed, though it may not be the largest outbreak in U.S. history as previously claimed by state officials.
The outbreak, which began in January 2024, has resulted in two deaths and an unusually high number of infections. “We would expect to see only a handful of cases each year,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Kansas Health System. He described the outbreak as a “stark warning” about the continued threat of tuberculosis.
Despite the rising case numbers, Kansas health officials have reassured the public that the outbreak does not pose a widespread threat. “We are trending in the right direction right now,” said Ashley Goss, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, during a recent state Senate hearing.
Understanding Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs and spreads through airborne droplets when an infected person coughs, talks, or sings. While highly infectious, TB only transmits when symptoms are present.
The disease manifests in two forms: active TB, which includes symptoms such as chronic cough, bloody phlegm, night sweats, fever, weight loss, and swollen glands, and latent TB, where the bacteria remain dormant in the body without causing illness or spreading to others. Roughly a quarter of the global population carries latent TB, but only 5% to 10% develop active symptoms.
Scope of the Kansas Outbreak
As of January 24, health officials reported 67 cases of active TB and 79 cases of latent TB, primarily in Wyandotte County. However, state data indicates a total of 79 active TB cases and 213 latent cases in Wyandotte and Johnson counties combined. It remains unclear how many of these cases are directly linked to the outbreak.
Kansas health officials initially described the situation as the largest documented TB outbreak in U.S. history since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began tracking cases in the 1950s. However, the CDC refuted this claim, pointing to at least two larger outbreaks in recent years. Between 2015 and 2017, more than 170 active TB cases and 400 latent cases were recorded in Georgia homeless shelters. In 2021, a nationwide outbreak linked to contaminated tissue used in bone transplants infected 113 patients.
Treatment and Global Impact
TB is treated with a months-long course of antibiotics. While a vaccine exists, it is not widely recommended in the U.S. due to low infection rates and potential interference with diagnostic testing.
Globally, TB remains a leading cause of infectious disease deaths. In 2023, the World Health Organization reported that TB killed 1.25 million people and infected 8 million worldwide—the highest count since tracking began.
Although TB cases in the U.S. were significantly higher in previous generations, recent trends show a resurgence. In 2023, more than 9,600 cases were reported nationwide, marking the highest count in a decade.
Health officials in Kansas continue to monitor the outbreak, emphasizing that while progress is being made, vigilance remains crucial to containing the disease.
