Trends in tuberculosis--United States, 2008

In 2008, a total of 12,898 incident tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported in the United States; the TB rate declined 3.8% from 2007 to 4.2 cases per 100,000 population, the lowest rate recorded since national reporting began in 1953. This report summarizes provisional 2008 data from the National TB Surveillance System and describes trends since 1993. Despite this overall improvement, progress has slowed in recent years; the average annual percentage decline in the TB rate decreased from 7.3% per year during 1993-2000 to 3.8% during 2000-2008. Foreign-born persons and racial/ethnic minorities continued to bear a disproportionate burden of TB disease in the United States. In 2008, the TB rate in foreign-born persons in the United States was 10 times higher than in U.S.-born persons. TB rates among Hispanics and blacks were nearly eight times higher than among non-Hispanic whites, and rates among Asians were nearly 23 times higher than among non-Hispanic whites. In 2008, among persons with TB whose country of origin was known, approximately 95% of Asians, 76% of Hispanics, 32% of blacks, and 18% of whites were foreign born. Among U.S.-born racial and ethnic groups, the greatest racial disparity in TB rates was for U.S.-born blacks, whose rate was seven times higher than the rate for U.S.-born whites. Intensified efforts are needed to address the slowing decline in TB incidence and the persistent disparities that exist between U.S.-born and foreign-born persons and between whites and minorities in the United States.