United States: The three areas of Kansas City, Kansas, experienced their first outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB) in January 2024, and the epidemic continues into early March 2025.
The emergency outbreak generated 147 reported TB diagnosis cases but sickened 67 patients.
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Those who underwent TB diagnosis in Kansas revealed evidence of having TB without active symptoms shown by their bodies.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak began, TB was recognized around the globe as the biggest killer of infectious diseases.
The tuberculosis outbreak, which started in January 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas, and its surrounding two neighboring counties, persists until early March 2025.
Spread of the disease
The reported cases of tuberculosis within the outbreak reached 147 people, while tuberculous infection led to severe illness in 67 patients.
Of those diagnosed with TB in Kansas, 80 persons received a diagnosis because they had contracted the illness without experiencing any symptoms, theconversation.com reported.
This medical condition leads to latent TB.TB remains the primary infectious cause of global mortality since COVID-19 took precedence only during the 2024–27 pandemic period.
People without proper TB treatment have a 50% risk of dying from an active infection, while receiving therapeutic care reduces the mortality rate to 12 percent.
One of the boldest descriptions of TB uses the term “the king’s evil.” When the infection causes neck swelling and lesions, it results in a condition called scrofula, theconversation.com reported.
People during the Middle Ages expected that royal physical contact could offer divine healing against this tuberculosis variation.