Reported Tuberculosis in the United States, 2020

Reported Tuberculosis in the United States - Cover Image

This 2020 edition of Reported Tuberculosis in the United States reflects a uniquely challenging year for public health and the TB community. The report describes information on cases of tuberculosis (TB) disease reported to CDC since 1993. This year’s report emphasizes cases counted by the reporting areas in 2020 and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB surveillance.

TB data from 2020 reveal a substantial decline in the number of reported cases of TB disease in the United States.

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has probably affected reported TB incidence in the United States in several ways, including a combination of TB underdiagnosis and a true reduction in incidence.
  • CDC is conducting additional analyses to better understand how the 2020 TB data compare with previous years.

Information in this report summarizes incident cases of TB reported to CDC’s National Tuberculosis Surveillance System (NTSS) by:

  • 50 U.S. states, New York City, and the District of Columbia (DC) unless otherwise specified,
  • Five U.S. territories (American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and
  • Three independent countries that are in compacts of free association with the United States (Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau).

NTSS has collected information on all newly reported cases of TB disease since 1953, and cases reported since 1993 are maintained in an electronic database. Small variations in historical data included in this edition, compared with previous editions, are attributable to updated information submitted in the interim by reporting areas.

Reported Tuberculosis in the United States, 2020 is published exclusively online. Access the data by selecting the categories below, or through the List of Tables.

Table Printing Tips provides information on how to print tables from web browsers.