Background

Some workers are at risk for exposure to TB bacteria, including healthcare workers, correctional and detention facility workers, homeless service center workers, workers who travel internationally, workers who live or work in shared housing, workers who interact with people from countries with high rates of TB, and workers that work around or handle elephants. Workers with LTBI, older workers, and those with weakened immune systems (e.g., due to HIV/AIDS, chemotherapy, diabetes, or use of certain medications) are at a higher risk of developing TB disease. Additionally, silica-exposed workers with latent TB are at higher risk of developing active TB infection.

TB in the United States:

Tuberculosis is not common in the United States, and both the number of infections and the rate of TB cases have steadily declined in the U.S. since 1992. While tuberculosis infections decreased in the United States by an average of 2% - 3% annually since 2010, beginning in 2020 there was an increase in new cases worldwide.

• In 2021, approximately 7,882 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), representing a rate increase from 2020 from 2.2 cases per 100,000 cases to 2.4 cases per 100,000 people.
• During 2020 and 2021, 71% of TB infections occurred among people who were not born in the US.
• Four states, California, Texas, New York, and Florida, account for almost half (49.9%) of all TB cases reported in the U.S.
• In 2020 and 2021, California reported the highest number of TB infections; Alaska reported the highest rate of infections per population.

TB outside of the United States:

• An estimated 66 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment between 2000 and 2020.
• In 2020 and 2021, thirty countries accounted for 87% of new TB cases worldwide. Of those, eight countries accounted for two thirds of the total: India, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.