From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tuberculosis morbidity among U.S.-born and foreign-born populations--United States, 2000.

In collaboration with all state health departments, CDC conducts public health surveillance for tuberculosis (TB). This report summarizes data from the national TB surveillance system for 2000 and compares them with data from 1992-1999. During 2000, a total of 16,377 cases (5.8 cases per 100,000 population) of TB were reported to CDC from the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), representing a 7% decrease from 1999 and a 39% decrease from 1992, when the number of cases and case rate most recently peaked in the United States. However, the case rate among foreign-born persons remains at least seven times higher than among U.S.-born persons. To address the high rate, CDC is collaborating with public health partners to implement TB control initiatives among recent international arrivals and residents along the border between the United States and Mexico and to strengthen TB programs in countries with a high incidence of TB disease.