On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, announced that 2023 saw a spike in the number of diagnosed tuberculosis cases in the United States. The spike wasn't tremendous, but given the nature of tuberculosis and its transmissibility, it's a matter of serious concern.
The number of U.S. tuberculosis cases in 2023 was the highest in a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced.
The CDC said on its website Thursday that "overall, cases increased from 8,320 in 2022 to 9,615 in 2023, an increase of 1,295 cases"
"The rate also increased from 2.5 per 100,000 persons in 2022 to 2.9 in 2023," it added, noting that numbers were up among all age groups. Data from the agency shows nearly 10,000 infections in 2013.
CDC officials expected TB numbers would rise, but the 2023 count "was a little more than was expected," Dr. Philip LoBue, director of the agency's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, told The Associated Press.
While it's important to note that correlation does not equal causation, there is nevertheless another phenomenon in the United States that has increased since 2022, indeed since January of 2021: Illegal immigration. The CDC is silent on the sources of the new infections, but it's not a great stretch of imagination that among millions of immigrants, many from third-world countries, some will be carrying pathogens.
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