Decrease in Reported Tuberculosis Cases – United States, 2009

This report presents results from the U.S. National TB Surveillance System for 2009. It states that 11,540 TB cases were reported in the United States in 2009, for a rate of 3.8 cases per 100,000 population. This was a decrease of 11.4 percent from the rate of 4.2 per 100,000 reported in 2008. Also, this was the lowest recorded rate since the beginning of national TB surveillance in 1953, and the greatest single-year decrease ever recorded. It provides the rate of TB cases by state/area in the United States for 2009; number and rate of TB cases among U.S.-born and foreign-born persons by year reported 1993-2009; and the number and rate of TB cases and percentage change, by race/ethnicity in the United States, 2008-2009. It notes that CDC is investigating possible causes for the sharp decrease in reported cases.