Wyandotte County approves $1 million plan to treat tuberculosis outbreak, prevent spread
As diagnosed tuberculosis cases in Wyandotte County this year have eclipsed those seen across all of Kansas in 2023, local public health officials are putting forward a roughly $1 million plan to deal with the outbreak and prevent further spread of the disease.
Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, commissioners on Wednesday evening greenlit a months-long health department program that will use leftover federal COVID-19 pandemic relief money to stem the rising number of cases.
Under the plan, public health officials plan to work with schools and employers to advise precautionary measures. Another component would involve routine, one-on-one interactions between public health officials and tuberculosis patients to ensure medication is taken as needed.
Responding to questions raised over its cost, Dr. Elisha Caldwell, director of the Unified Government’s public health department, told commissioners Wednesday the number of tuberculosis cases within Wyandotte County had grown to 56 and “is going up.”
The containment program proposed, he added, would likely be far cheaper than taking no action.
“I think the best bet we have right now is to figure out how to stop it. Because if we don’t, it could go out of control, and we could end up spending much, much, much more money,” Caldwell said.
Tuberculosis cases are far rarer in the U.S. than other parts of the world, but upticks have been seen nationally since 2020. In 2023, nearly 40 states reported greater numbers of the disease amounting to a roughly 16% increase across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The airborne respiratory illness causes coughing, chest pain, fever, fatigue and other symptoms. Those with active tuberculosis can spread the disease to others in close quarters over a prolonged period of time, most commonly within families. It can be fatal if untreated.
There is also a latent form of tuberculosis, called inactive TB, that can lay dormant in a person. Such cases do not cause immediate illness and are not contagious.
Data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment showed 83 active cases of the disease across the state, including those in Wyandotte County, so far in 2024. Statewide there were 46 reported in all of 2023 and 52 reported in 2022, according to figures from the CDC.
Local officials are working in step with state and federal health officials to address the outbreak.
County Administrator David Johnston said Wednesday that commissioners need to understand that cultural differences affect how some perceive the disease. There is a social stigma associated with tuberculosis in some parts of the world, Johnston said, that continues to exist among some Wyandotte Countians who were raised outside the U.S.
“It’s more complicated than just going to the doctor’s office. And that’s why it costs $1 million,” Johnston said.
