"The cost of contact tracing and surveillance, traveling each day to patients' homes to ensure they take their meds or booking hotel rooms to quarantine patients, has surged from $17,000 in 2020 to $65,000 last year. That doesn't include $13,000 spent last year for language translation, as many of the cases were among the local immigrant communities."
"Before the COVID-19 pandemic, tuberculosis was the world's deadliest infectious disease, killing about 1.5 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization."
"Tuberculosis cases have been rising nationwide since 2021, and in 2024 - the most recent year for which data is available - they reached the highest level since 2011. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia reported increases in TB case counts and rates from 2023 to 2024, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Tuberculosis, historically the world's deadliest infectious disease, is experiencing a resurgence in the United States. Johnson County, Iowa has seen dramatic increases in TB cases since 2020, with latent infections tripling from 27 to 90 cases. Containment costs have surged from $17,000 in 2020 to $65,000 in the most recent year, including expenses for contact tracing, home visits, patient surveillance, quarantine accommodations, and language translation services for immigrant communities. The state has withdrawn financial support for home visits, forcing the county to absorb these costs independently. Nationally, TB cases have been rising since 2021, with 2024 marking the highest level since 2011, affecting 34 states and the District of Columbia.
#tuberculosis-resurgence #public-health-funding #contact-tracing-costs #infectious-disease-surveillance #immigrant-health-disparities
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