NEW YORK — The number of people diagnosed with tuberculosis worldwide rose again last year, eclipsing Record result 2023World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.
In 2024, approximately 8.3 million people worldwide were newly diagnosed with tuberculosis. Not all infections are diagnosed, and the new figures represent 78% of the estimated number of people who actually became ill last year, the WHO noted.
WHO officials see the increase as a sign that screening and treatment are improving following healthcare disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, deaths from tuberculosis fell to 1.23 million in 2024, down from 1.25 million the year before.
Tuberculosis cases in the USA continued to grow last year — reaching the highest level in more than a dozen years, according to preliminary data released earlier this year. The vast majority of TB cases in the United States are diagnosed in people born in other countries.
Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that infects the lungs and is spread through the air when an infectious person coughs or sneezes. It is estimated that about a quarter of the world's population has tuberculosis, but only a fraction develop symptoms. If left untreated, it can be fatal and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
WHO publishes a report on tuberculosis every year. The latter is based on data from 184 countries. Funding for the fight against the disease is already stagnating, and experts fear a possible setback in the fight following recent spending cuts by the U.S. government and other funders.
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