General information about tuberculosis

Tuberculosis Quarterly Surveillance Reports (PDF):

Data through March 31, 2008

March 2008 World TB Day - Quick Facts (PDF)

Common questions about tuberculosis
What is TB and how is it spread? What are its symptoms and how do you treat it? Get your basic questions about tuberculosis answered. Information available in English, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Somali and Russian.

2006 Annual TB Report (PDF, 577 Kb)
In 2006, King County reported 145 cases of active tuberculosis (TB) disease, representing an 18% increase from the 2005 count. King County had a TB rate of 7.9 cases per every 100,000 individuals; this rate remains higher than the national rate (4.8 per 100,000 in 2005).

2005 Annual TB Report (PDF, 1 Mb)
In 2005, King County reported 127 cases of active tuberculosis (TB) disease. This represents a 5 percent decrease from the 2004 count and marks a continued decline since 2002 when 158 TB cases, a 30-year historic high, were reported.

2004 Annual TB Report (PDF, 347 Kb)
In 2004, King County reported 133 new cases of confirmed tuberculosis. This represents a decline of 14% from the 2003 rate due to the TB Control Program’s intensive efforts to reduce the TB burden among at-risk populations, particularly aimed at the homeless population.

Tuberculosis Case Rates 2000 - 2006 for Washington and Seattle & King County:

		2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Washington	count	258	261	252	250	245	256	262
	rate/100,000	4.4	4.3	4.1	4.0	3.9	4.1	4.1

Seattle & King County	count	127	139	158	155	133	127	145
	rate/100,000	7.3	7.9	8.9	8.7	7.4	7.0	7.9

Facts about BCG vaccine
Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) is made of a live, weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis. It was developed in the 1930s and it remains the only vaccination available against tuberculosis today.

Facts about QuantiFERON-TB Gold test
Blood test for latent TB infection (external link to the CDC.)