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The number of tuberculosis cases in the United States hit a ten-year high in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency said there were over 9,600 reported tuberculosis cases last year, a 16% increase from 2022. That is the most cases since there were 9,556 in 2013.
Forty states and Washington, D.C., reported an increase in cases in 2023. California had the most cases in the country, with 2,113.
Despite the increase in cases, the U.S. still has one of the lowest rates of tuberculosis in the world.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually targets the lungs. It spreads through the air when a contagious person coughs or sneezes. The bacteria can remain latent inside a person for years, though they cannot spread the bacterial infection. The CDC said that roughly 85% of cases are a result of latent infections in which a person was infected several years ago.
While tuberculosis is curable with antibiotics, it remains one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases.