Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: [email protected]. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
World TB Day --- March 24, 2009
World TB Day is observed each year on March 24 to commemorate the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced
the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). Worldwide, TB remains one of
the leading causes of death from infectious disease. An estimated 2 billion persons are infected with
M. tuberculosis (1). In 2006, approximately 9.2 million persons became ill from TB, and 1.7 million died from the disease
(1). World TB Day provides an opportunity for TB programs, nongovernmental organizations, and other partners to describe problems and solutions
related to the TB pandemic and to support worldwide TB control efforts. The U.S. theme for this year's observance is Partnerships
for TB Elimination.
After approximately 30 years of decline (from 84,304 in 1953 to
22,201 in 1985), the number of TB cases reported in
the United States increased 20% (to 26,673) during 1985--1992
(2). This led to a renewed emphasis on TB control
and prevention during the 1990s. However, the average annual decline has slowed since 2000. In addition, multidrug-resistant
TB remains a threat, extensively drug-resistant TB has become an emerging threat, and persons of racial/ethnic
minority populations and foreign-born persons continue to account for a greater percentage of TB cases. Additional information
about World TB Day and CDC TB-elimination activities is available at
http://www.cdc.gov/tb/worldtbday.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from typeset documents.
This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version.
Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr)
and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables.
An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371;
telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to
[email protected].
