This medical illustration shows the drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. A Kansas City, Kansas, outbreak of TB has made national news. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Updated, 10:09 a.m., 2/4/25
One case of tuberculosis was confirmed at a West Michigan school last week, as the county health department is working to identify any additional cases.
The Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department has notified Kalamazoo Public Schools that an individual at Kalamazoo Central High School was recently diagnosed with active tuberculosis, a news release from last Friday states. That individual has been isolated from the rest of the school population and is receiving treatment for the illness.
Tuberculosis, an illness that mostly impacts the lungs, is spread through airborne germs from talking, coughing or sneezing, mainly in crowded areas. Tuberculosis is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with 1.25 million people dying from the illness in 2023, according to the World Health Organization.
A person can become infected with the disease, but not show symptoms and not be contagious, known as latent tuberculosis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 13 million people in the U.S. have latent tuberculosis whereas the U.S. saw 9,615 cases of active tuberculosis in 2023 where individuals had symptoms and could spread the disease.
Tuberculosis is not common in the U.S., which has had one of the lowest tuberculosis rates in the world for decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, some states have seen increases in cases of active tuberculosis following the COVID-19 pandemic, and public health experts are concerned that the U.S. lacks the awareness and prevention tools to limit the spread of the illness.
Kansas, in particular, has seen an unprecedented outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City area over the last year. With more than 60 active cases reported by the state health department at the end of January, the concentration of cases is raising alarm bells in the state.
Tuberculosis is preventable and curable and in Michigan it has been rare. But in 2023, as the spread of the COVID-19 virus wanned, the state saw a 24% increase in tuberculosis cases from the year before, with 149 cases, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2024, the number of cases rose to 165, about an 11% increase.
The Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department said in a news release that it is working with Kalamazoo Public Schools to identify individuals who might have spent extended periods of time in proximity to the individual with tuberculosis. Those individuals will be notified and offered testing at Kalamazoo Central High School at no cost.
“KPS is taking guidance from the health department and is collaborating on the response,” Kalamazoo Public Schools Superintendent Darrin Slade said in a news release. “We send our best wishes for a full and speedy recovery to the individual diagnosed.”
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