TB Rate Hits All-Time Low

A T L A N T A, June 12 -- The nation has sliced tuberculosis rates in halfduring the past decade, and the number of cases of the respiratorydisease fell to an all-time low, federal health officials saidtoday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it recorded16,377 TB cases nationwide in 2000 — the lowest figure on recordand down 7 percent from just a year earlier.

The national TB rate was 5.8 cases per 100,000 people last year,down 45 percent from a rate of 10.5 per 100,000 in 1992. Healthofficials credited better early identification of TB patients andmore thorough treatment.

Tuberculosis is airborne and can spread only through prolongedcontact in close quarters. It is easily cured but can be fatal ifleft untreated.

CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan warned that TB remains a"significant health threat," with high rates lingering inconcentrated areas. Eight of the 12 states with the highest TBrates in 2000 were in the Southeast.

"You have to keep in mind that it's a different picture indifferent communities," said Marisa Moore, chief of surveillancefor CDC's tuberculosis elimination branch. "The problem is thatit's not one-size-fits-all."

Alaska had 17.2 TB cases per 100,000 people last year, easilythe highest in the nation. Hawaii, California, New York and Georgiacompleted the top five. Vermont had the lowest rate — just 0.7cases per 100,000.

"It continues to be an impressive decline," said Philip C.Hopewell, a spokesman for the American Lung Association. He saideradicating the disease is "certainly a feasible goal," probablyat least 20 years away.

Tuberculosis made a similar drop in the 1970s, promptingCongress to cut off funding for TB control. The disease surged backin the 1980s, with new and deadly drug-resistant strains. Health officials acknowledged today that a repeat of thatscenario is a possibility. New federal guidelines push for a TBvaccine and for better ways to target communities at highest riskfor the disease.