Tuberculosis Cases Climb In Tennessee

ATLANTA, GA -- Though the rate of cases is below the national average, tuberculosis diagnoses grew in Tennessee in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There were 128 cases of TB in Tennessee in 2017, an increase of 24.3 percent over 2016, the CDC said in its annual tuberculosis report released Friday.

That's 1.9 cases per 100,000 people in the Volunteer State, an increase from 1.5 per 100,000 in 2016.

That's still below the national rate of 2.8 cases per 100,000. More than half of the TB cases in the United States in 2017 were in Texas, California, New York and Florida.

Overall, TB cases have declined since a spike in 2015.

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