Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 2000

Australia has one of the lowest incidences of tuberculosis (TB) in the world. The annual incidence rate has remained stable at between 5 and 6 per 100,000 population, since 1991. In 2000, there were 1,060 TB notifications in Australia, of which 1,004 were newly diagnosed cases and 56 were relapse cases. The corresponding incidence rate for new and relapsed TB was 5.2 and 0.3 cases per 100,000 population, respectively. The highest incidence of TB disease in Australia continues to be among the overseas-born (18.0 per 100,000 population) and Indigenous Australians (15.3 per 100,000 population). By contrast, the incidence of disease in the non-indigenous Australian-born population remains low (1.2 per 100,000 population).