An unprecedented wave of tuberculosis infections has struck the state of Kansas as nearly 70 cases have been recorded, say officials.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced 67 active outbreak cases and 79 latent infections in Kansas City, Kansas, as of Friday since 2024. The majority of cases were declared to have broken out in Wyandotte County and Johnson County, just west and southwest of the metro area.
KDHE Deputy Secretary Ashley Goss told the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee Tuesday: “Currently, Kansas has the largest outbreak that they’ve ever had in history.”
But despite this, officials stated that the outbreak had a very low risk to the general public and surrounding counties.
In September 2023, a CDC report revealed that an outbreak of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB had driven up cases from 2019–2021 when recorded cases were between 37– 43 – a number that increased to 52 in 2022. Thirteen people in four low-income households in Kansas were said to have contracted the anti-biotic resistant disease.
TB is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium that typically strikes the lungs but can also hinder other parts of the body. It is spread through the area, when a person with an active infection coughs, speaks, or sings.
Two strains of the infection exist, namely an active infection which can cause nausea and is contagious, and a latent infection which is the opposite of the former: non-contagious and does not cause sickness.
People cannot catch the disease through kissing, shaking hands, sharing food, drink, or toothbrushes, or through sharing bedding or the same toilet in a household.
If a person catches TB, it can be treated with antibiotics and shortly after starting treatment, the active infection will no longer be infectious to others.
What are the symptoms of Tuberculosis?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an active TB case can present in the lungs through symptoms such as:
Other associated symptoms of active TB disease are:
Symptoms of active TB disease in other parts of the body depend on the area affected:
KDHE advised that local health departments were working with each TB patient to identify possible close contacts who may also have contracted the disease.
They are conducting TB testing at no cost.
Any patients who test positive will receive further screening to determine whether their case is active or latent.
Uninsured people as well as those whose health insurance does not cover it, will receive free treatment, said KDHE.
Medical officials will continue to monitor patients to “help them stay on course”, said the department.
