[workingdog]

TB was basicallty gone from the US.

Until we accepted millions of unscreened people from outside the US where TB was more common.

[082349872349872]

If that were true, other countries would have the same experience.

We have ~20% immigrant population, yet TB cases have been decreasing since at least 2016. (rates since at least 2009?)

Why do you think your hypothesis would be stronger than TFA's?

[tzs]

Here are number of TB cases in the US and rate/100k from 1953 through 2023. I don't see any time in there were it was basically gone.

  year  cases  rate/100k
  2023  9615     2.9
  2022  8331     2.5
  2021  7870     2.4
  2020  7171     2.2
  2019  8895     2.7
  2018  8997     2.8
  2017  9069     2.8
  2016  9239     2.9
  2015  9538     3.0
  2014  9381     2.9
  2013  9513     3.0
  2012  9906     3.2
  2011  10471    3.4
  2010  11069    3.6
  2009  11491    3.7
  2008  12943    4.3
  2007  13276    4.4
  2006  13720    4.6
  2005  14053    4.8
  2004  14498    5.0
  2003  14835    5.1
  2002  15054    5.2
  2001  15946    5.6
  2000  16309    5.8
  1999  17494    6.3
  1998  18288    6.6
  1997  19753    7.2
  1996  21212    7.9
  1995  22727    8.5
  1994  24207    9.2
  1993  25105    9.7
  1992  26673   10.4
  1991  26283   10.4
  1990  25701   10.3
  1989  23495    9.5
  1988  22436    9.2
  1987  22517    9.3
  1986  22768    9.5
  1985  22201    9.3
  1984  22255    9.4
  1983  23846   10.2
  1982  25520   11.0
  1981  27373   11.9
  1980  27749   12.2
  1979  27669   12.3
  1978  28521   12.8
  1977  30145   13.7
  1976  32105   14.7
  1975  33989   15.7
  1974  30122   14.1
  1973  30998   14.6
  1972  32882   15.7
  1971  35217   17.0
  1970  37137   18.1
  1969  39120   19.3
  1968  42623   21.2
  1967  45647   23.0
  1966  47767   24.3
  1965  49016   25.2
  1964  50874   26.5
  1963  54042   28.6
  1962  53315   28.6
  1961  53726   29.2
  1960  55494   30.7
  1959  57535   32.4
  1958  63534   36.3
  1957  67149   39.0
  1956  69895   41.4
  1955  77368   46.6
  1954  79775   48.9
  1953  84304   52.6

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/reports/2022/table1.htm for 1953 through 2022. 2023 added from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7312a4.htm

[badgersnake]

People travel, and being sick does not stop them. Testing does not always stop them. We learned this from the rapid spread of Covid across the globe.

Unless you plan to lockdown the country entirely, preventing people traveling is not an effective approach.

[shrubble]

It's not "people traveling" as this phrase is commonly understood, that is the issue; it's "relocation of 5% of a small country's population (Nicaragua for example) into the USA".

[Dig1t]

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2746906/#:~:text=Mo....

>Most tuberculosis (TB) cases in the US are diagnosed in foreign-born persons, and undocumented foreign-born may face particular barriers to timely access to health services.

[jvanderbot]

When leaving the USA, getting TB vaccine is highly recommended and (at least in my experience) free and easy. I think it's fairly clear GP meant folks coming into the USA, and not for short periods, from areas that are not able to supply vaccines regularly.

This very well might be an issue. UNICEF and other aid organizations work dilligently to eradicate TB and other poverty-adjacent diseases, so perhaps individuals and the US Gov should increase their aid to other nations.

[zpeti]

Ah yes. People didn’t travel before 2020, and that’s why we didn’t have TB back then.

[HarryHirsch]

TB is a disease of poverty, it doesn't spread that easily, but the risk goes up for people in overcrowded living situations and for those who are chronically malnourished.

It's not a great surprise that one would find TB in cross-border migrants, but it's an indictment of the system that the disease continues to spread over here.

Next up: lepra, also caused by a mycobacterium

[zabzonk]

> lepra, also caused by a mycobacterium

yup, and also due to those pesky immigrants!

oh, but wait! it is actually endemic among native armadillos (USA) and native red squirrels (UK) - you almost never see a red squirrel in the UK, so don't worry.

[BirAdam]

Eh. My mother had TB as a kid and lost her childhood best friend to it. Homegrown Americans in a rather pale area.