WHO: Global Tuberculosis Cases Hit Highest Number Since Monitoring Began in 1995

A doctor examines the x-rays of a tuberculosis (TB) patient at a clinic in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 27, 2002. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

New cases of tuberculosis globally reached a record high in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Roughly 8.2 million individuals were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) last year, which is the highest number since the organization began monitoring the disease in 1995, the WHO said in an Oct. 29 statement.

“This represents a notable increase from 7.5 million reported in 2022, placing TB again as the leading infectious disease killer in 2023, surpassing COVID-19,” the WHO stated.

TB caused an estimated 1.25 million deaths last year, according to an Oct. 29 WHO report.

The total number of people falling ill with tuberculosis has been rising since 2021, the report said. Last year, 10.8 million individuals contracted the disease, a small increase from 10.7 million in the previous year, but much higher than the 10.1 million in 2020.

The WHO noted that most of the increase in TB cases between 2022 and 2023 reflected population growth. The rate of incidence largely remained similar in both years.

Just five nations accounted for 56 percent of new annual tuberculosis cases—India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, and Pakistan.

Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, director of the organization’s Global Tuberculosis Program, called the numbers a “sobering reality,” stressing the need for collective action to deal with the issue. There is an “urgent need to tackle drug-resistant tuberculosis, a significant driver of antimicrobial resistance.”

“Reductions in the number of deaths from TB since 2022 and the slowing increase in the TB incidence rate are the result of substantial post-COVID recovery in TB diagnosis and treatment,” the report said.

The WHO noted that a key barrier to plugging diagnostic and treatment gaps among TB-affected individuals is the financial costs. Roughly 50 percent of individuals face medical costs that are more than 20 percent of their annual incomes, which the WHO called “catastrophic.”

“The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it, and treat it,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

US Tuberculosis Situation

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 8,331 reported tuberculosis cases in the country in 2022. The agency further estimated that up to 13 million individuals in the United States could be living with latent or inactive infection.

“During 2020, TB case counts and incidence rates declined substantially, likely because of factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, TB case counts and incidence partially rebounded, but remained lower compared with 2019,” the agency said.

“In 2022, reported TB cases and incidence rates increased for the second year in a row, but remained lower compared with 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The CDC pointed to birth outside the United States as a “key risk factor” for tuberculosis. Incidence rate among non-U.S.-born individuals was 17.1 times higher compared to those born in the country.

While several types of bacteria can cause TB, the majority of American cases are from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the agency noted.

Symptoms include a cough that lasts for three weeks or longer, weakness or fatigue, coughing up blood, loss of appetite, fever, chills, and chest pain. The CDC warns that active TB can be fatal without proper treatment.

In April, Chicago’s Health Department revealed that some of the illegal immigrants who had recently entered the city had tuberculosis. The agency estimated that 10–20 percent of people who come from Central and South America already have latent tuberculosis.

California issued a health advisory in April, warning about a “substantial increase” in TB cases in the state. In 2023, California reported 2,100 tuberculosis infections, up 15 percent from the previous year.

In many cases, the individuals had latent TB before the disease became active, by which time it had spread to other individuals.