U.S.: Tuberculosis cases reach their lowest level ever in the U.S.
- 11,181 total number of tuberculosis cases found in the U.S. in 2010
- 3.9% the decline in that number from 2009 — an already low year
- 3.6 number of cases of TB per 100,000 people — it’s almost beat source
- » Some clouds on that silver lining: While levels are at their lowest in recorded history, officials hoped to have killed TB for good in the U.S. by 2010, by having less than 1 case per 100,000 people. “The rate we have now is 36 times higher than that,” said Dr. Kenneth G. Castro, who is in charge of the CDC’s tuberculosis-defeating efforts. And certain groups — particularly minorities, AIDS sufferers and immigrants from other countries — are much more susceptible to TB. Over time, some strains of tuberculosis have gotten more resistant, too.