Kansas officials claimed TB outbreak was largest in U.S. history. CDC says that’s wrong
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is disputing Kansas public health officials’ claim that the Wyandotte County tuberculosis outbreak is the largest in recorded U.S. history.
In an email to The Star, a CDC spokesperson identified two outbreaks within the last decade linked to more TB infections than Kansas’ ongoing outbreak, including one from 2015-2017 when the disease was spread through Georgia homeless shelters and another after patients around the country received contaminated bone grafts in 2021.
In a statement responding to the national health agency’s assertion, KDHE maintained the spate of Kansas TB infections is record-breaking — in a slightly more specific way.
“The total case count of tuberculosis associated with the current outbreak in the Kansas City, Kan Metro area (Wyandotte and Johnson counties) from Jan. 2024 to present is 67, making it the largest outbreak in the U.S. at this time over the span of one year since the CDC began reporting TB cases in the 1950s,” said Jill Bronaugh, a KDHE spokesperson.
“It is important to note that this outbreak is ongoing, therefore, cannot be compared to previous TB epidemics or outbreaks that have been tracked over many years and/or have been declared over.”
According to CDC spokesperson Melissa Dibble, the Georgia outbreak was linked to 170 active TB cases and over 400 latent cases, meaning patients were asymptomatic and incapable of passing the disease to others. A total of 113 patients were treated after receiving contaminated bone grafts, she said.
Bronaugh said KDHE is currently managing 384 people “who are all at various different stages of TB testing, diagnostics, and treatment” in connection to the outbreak. State data shows 60 of the active cases are in Wyandotte County and seven are in Johnson County.
Kansas Deputy Secretary for Public Health Ashley Goss first claimed that the state’s TB outbreak was record-breaking during a Senate committee meeting last week. Asked to confirm the veracity of Goss’ statement, KDHE doubled down in a Monday statement that was repeated in many state and national media outlets’ reporting.
While the outbreak is large, KDHE says the health risk remains low for the general public. TB is spread person-to-person only through prolonged contact with someone who has active TB, Bronough said.
The state agency has provided no information about the origin of the outbreak and did not immediately respond to The Star’s questions about which populations neighborhoods, workplaces or schools in Wyandotte County account for the most TB infections.
Dibble said four CDC staff members are providing on-site assistance in the Kansas City area, “including contact investigation, testing and screening, and working with community leaders on health education.”
Kansans who believe they may have been infected are asked to call the KDHE hotline at 877-427-7317. Patients who test positive will receive further free testing to determine whether their infection is active or latent, and local health departments will work with them to identify their close contacts.
