Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 1996. Communicable Diseases Network Australia New Zealand

Since the implementation of the National Mycobacterial Surveillance System (NMSS) in 1991, the epidemiology and trends of tuberculosis in Australia have been described in a series of annual reports. This article presents an analysis of the data for tuberculosis notifications for 1996. A total of 1,037 notifications of tuberculosis were received for the year 1996, and the crude rates of new and relapsed disease were reported at 5.37 per 100,000 and 0.29 per 100,000 respectively. Rates of tuberculosis have remained stable over the last decade and the majority of notifications and highest rates of disease continue to occur in the overseas-born population.