Each year, there are 2 million TB-related deaths worldwide. Someone in the world is newly infected with TB every second. Although the number of cases of TB in the United States in 2000 was 16,372, the lowest since national reporting started in 1953, an increasing proportion of Americans with TB are born in areas where TB is common, such as Asia, Africa and Latin America. TB among individuals living in the U.S. but born in other countries increased from 22 percent of the national total in 1986 to 44 percent in 1999. If people with TB disease do not take their medicines correctly, they can develop and spread strains of TB that are resistant to available drugs.
Drug resistance is rampant in many countries.
It is not a major problem in the United States, and is only a minor problem in Arkansas. Due to the frequency of international travel in today's global society, the tuberculosis problems in Russia, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America have the potential to affect other countries worldwide. These new methods are critical in eliminating and controlling the spread of tuberculosis. On one hand, the United States is at an all-time low in the number of new cases. On the other hand, we are particularly vulnerable to complacency and neglect that comes with declining number of cases.