Kansas City Health Department Says TB Cases Remain Low

Posted February 5, 2025

The Kansas City Health Department on Friday said the city continues to maintain low tuberculosis case numbers with no signs of an active outbreak following the Wyandotte County outbreak.

Since 2015, the annual average number of confirmed cases is 12.7, with no significant increase in 2024, according to a health department release on Friday. Furthermore, none of the Kansas City cases from 2024 are linked to the Wyandotte County outbreak.

“The risk of spreading Tuberculosis is low except for those who repeatedly come into close contact with someone coughing,” the health department said in the release. “Most transmission occurs between family members or people living together.”

The Kansas City Health Department urged residents concerned about exposure or who have come into close repeated contact with someone who has tested positive to use the free testing at the Health Department at 2400 Troost Ave or to call (816) 513-6110.

As of January 31, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has detected 67 active cases since 2024, with 60 in Wyandotte County and 7 in Johnson County. The Kansas department has identified 79 latent infections, 77 in Wyandotte County and just 2 in Johnson County.

Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium that usually affects the lungs but can affect other parts of the body. There are two types of TB infections: active disease and latent infections. Active disease makes people feel sick and can be spread to others, while latent infections don’t make people feel sick and can’t be spread to others.