Characteristics of foreign-born Hispanic patients with tuberculosis--eight U.S. counties bordering Mexico, 1995

During 1986-1995, the number of tuberculosis (TB) cases among foreign-born persons in the United States increased 61%, from 4925 cases (22% of the national total) to 7930 cases (35% of the national total). This increase probably reflected, in part, the immigration of persons from regions of the world that have a high incidence of TB. In 1995, 22% of all foreign-born persons with TB (8% of the national total) were born in Mexico; of these, 81% were reported by the four U.S. states bordering Mexico--Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. In 1995, local health departments in these states conducted an epidemiologic study to characterize patterns of immigration and migration among foreign-born Hispanic patients with TB and their behaviors in seeking health care. This report summarizes the findings of the analysis, which indicate that collaborative efforts for controlling TB should include and extend beyond border areas and that drug-susceptibility testing should be conducted for all TB isolates.