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Kansas TB outbreak raises concerns among health experts

January 30, 2025

A tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in Kansas City, Kansas, has surprised local health experts due to its scale, although it isn't the largest outbreak in U.S. history, as previously claimed by a state health official. Dr. Dana Hawkinson from the University of Kansas Health System noted that the high number of cases serves as a "stark warning," as typically only a few cases are expected annually.

Since January 2024, the outbreak has resulted in two deaths, according to Kansas state health department spokeswoman Jill Bronaugh. Despite the outbreak, health officials assure there is no threat to the general public.

Outbreak status: As of January 24, 67 individuals are being treated for active TB, mostly in Wyandotte County, with another 79 having latent TB. The provisional 2024 count shows 79 active TB cases and 213 latent cases in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, though not all are linked to the outbreak. Deputy Secretary Ashley Goss of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported that the situation is improving.¹

Resources for health care providers: Clinicians are encouraged to “think TB” when they see patients who have symptoms and risk factors that could be TB disease and to report all suspected cases of active TB disease to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment within 4 hours.²

Sources:

¹Shastri, D. (2025, January 28). AP News. The tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas is alarming. It’s not the biggest in US history though, CDC says. https://apnews.com/article/tuberculosis-tb-outbreak-kansas-largest-b6b58f4f5461abb430745e3a8e7dc758

²(2025, January 24). Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Tuberculosis Outbreaks. https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/2242/Tuberculosis-Outbreaks