In late January 2025, news outlets reported on an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) in the Kansas City, Kansas, area. According to several of these reports, and posts sharing the news on social media, the outbreak was "unprecedented," and some sources called it the largest outbreak since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began tracking tuberculosis cases.
Snopes readers wrote in asking for information about the outbreak. The outbreak is real, but Jill Bronaugh, the communications director at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), told Snopes via email that it posed a "very low risk" to the general public. Here's what readers need to know:
Tuberculosis is a bacteria that can infect the body in two different ways: active and latent (inactive). In a latent infection, TB has infected the body but cannot be spread to others and is not causing symptoms. However, it's still important to detect and treat these cases, since latent TB can turn into an active case of TB if left untreated. In contrast, someone with an active case of tuberculosis shows symptoms of the disease and can spread it to others. It's incredibly infectious and incredibly dangerous: TB is "one of the world's leading infectious disease killers," according to the CDC.
TB infections most frequently occur in the lungs, but can occur in other areas of the body, too. The CDC lists the following symptoms of a TB infection:
Active TB disease in the lungs may cause:
- A cough that last three weeks or longer.
- Chest pain.
- Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm from deep inside the lungs).
- Weakness or fatigue.
- Weight loss.
- Loss of appetite.
- Chills.
- Fever.
- Night sweats.
Symptoms of active TB disease in other parts of the body depend on the area affected:
- TB disease of the lymph nodes may cause a firm red or purple swelling under the skin.
- TB disease of the kidney may cause blood in the urine.
- TB meningitis (TB disease of the brain) may cause headache or confusion.
- TB disease of the spine may cause back pain.
- TB disease of the larynx may cause hoarseness.
When a person with an active TB infection coughs, sings or speaks, the bacteria can spread from person to person through the air. Treatment normally includes a regimen of antibiotics and frequent testing to monitor the status of the infection.
According to KDHE data, the outbreak consists of 67 active TB cases and 79 latent TB infections across two counties (Wyandotte and Johnson) in the Kansas City, Kansas, metro area. At a Jan. 21, 2025, state senate committee meeting, a representative for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment called the outbreak "unprecedented" and noted that Kansas "had the largest outbreak that they've ever had in history."
That requires clarification on what the word "outbreak" means. According to the CDC, there were just over 9,600 active TB cases in the United States in 2023. In this context, the 67 active cases in Kansas is rather small. However, it was a significant increase from prior years and happened in a specific location at a specific time. As a result, Kansas public health officials were able to create a cluster of connected cases.
According to the KDHE statement provided to Snopes, this group is the largest cluster identified since the CDC started tracking TB cases in the 1950s. (There was not enough public data for Snopes to independently confirm that fact.) The KDHE representative at the Jan. 21 senate meeting said that since the health department became involved, the number of active cases had decreased from 67 to 32.
Snopes followed up with Kansas Department of Health and Environment personnel to learn more about the outbreak, why public health officials believe it does not pose a significant risk to the surrounding community and to clarify how this particular outbreak was unprecedented. We had not received a reply as of this writing.