Who Is Affected by Tuberculosis (TB)

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one-third of the world's population is infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. About 2 million people die from TB each year.¹

• More than 9 million new active TB cases occurred in 2007.²
• More than 80% of the people with TB live in Africa and Asia.²
• In the United States 14,093 people had active TB in 2005.³

References

Citations

1. Nachega JB, Chaisson RE (2003). Tuberculosis drug resistance: A global threat. Clinical Infectious Disease, 36(Suppl 1): S24–S30.

2. World Health Organization (2009). Global tuberculosis control—epidemiology, strategy, financing. Available online: http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/2009/en/index.html.

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006). Trends in tuberculosis—United States, 2005. MMWR, 54(MM-11): 305–308.

Credits

By	Healthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer	E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer	R. Steven Tharratt, MD, MPVM, FACP, FCCP - Pulmonology, Critical Care Medicine, Medical Toxicology
Last Revised	April 15, 2011