Jan. 28 -A tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas has killed two people and infected at least 146 others with the potentially fatal respiratory disease, making it one of the largest outbreaks in the country’s history.
As of Friday, at least 67 active tuberculosis cases had been reported in Kansas, with 60 in Wyandotte County and seven in Johnson County, according to the Kansas Department of Public Health.
Wyandotte County includes Kansas City, the county seat, as well as areas to the west of Kansas City, while Johnson County is directly south of and adjacent to Wyandotte County.
According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, tuberculosis is a bacterium that primarily affects the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. It is classified into two types: active and inactive.
Active tuberculosis causes people to feel sick and can spread to others, whereas inactive tuberculosis does not cause illness or spread to others.
TB is typically spread through the air when an infected person coughs, speaks, or sings, but it can also be transmitted directly from one person to another.
Antibiotics can treat tuberculosis and prevent the active form of the disease from becoming infectious shortly after starting treatment.
Jill Bronaugh, communications director for the Kansas Health Department, announced Tuesday that the outbreak began in 2024 and claimed two lives.
Bronaugh said at least 67 people in Kansas were being treated for active tuberculosis as of Friday, but those with inactive tuberculosis are also being treated.
If inactive tuberculosis cases are not treated, 5% to 10% of them may develop active tuberculosis.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, director of prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health System, stated that while some tuberculosis cases are expected each year, the current outbreak has far exceeded normal numbers.
The majority of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis during the current outbreak were not particularly ill, but a few had serious symptoms.
The Kansas Health Department reported that the outbreak is the largest since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began monitoring and tracking cases in the 1950s.
According to the CDC, this is false, citing a TB outbreak in Georgia homeless shelters that infected over 170 people with active tuberculosis and over 400 with inactive tuberculosis between 2015 and 2017.
More recently, 113 people were diagnosed with active tuberculosis across the country in 2021 as a result of exposure to a bone graft product that infected them following surgery.
In October, the World Health Organization announced that more than 8 million people worldwide would be diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2023.
The disease killed 1.25 million people, making it the world’s deadliest disease since COVID-19, which was the deadliest during the global pandemic.
