Just yesterday I told you about increased numbers of cases of drug resistant TB in states with high immigrant populations, now here is news specific to Minnesota. On World TB Day (today) we are learning that Minnesota’s cases of TB are rising due to refugee resettlement.
The deadly disease has declined overall in the US since 1953.
“Many people might think that TB is a disease of the past because of its marked decline in the U.S., but it continues to be a problem today,” said Deborah Sodt, manager of the TB unit for the Minnesota Department of Health. Nationwide, the rate of TB disease has decreased more than tenfold since national reporting began in 1953. However, TB continues to be one of the deadliest diseases in the world, killing approximately 2 million people every year.
However, Minnesota’s cases have risen sharply in the last 15 years.
In Minnesota, active TB cases have increased 50 percent in 15 years, from 141 in 1993 to 211 in 2008. In 2007, the rate of TB disease in Minnesota of 4.6 cases per 100,000 people exceeded that of the nation (4.4 per 100,000) for the first time since 1953. Data on states’ TB rates for 2008 was released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, at Trends in Tuberculosis — United States, 2008. [Here is the CDC report with a handy map showing which states have the worst TB]
Minnesota’s high numbers are attributed to refugee resettlement.
Minnesota’s TB rate is higher than surrounding states largely because of economic and cultural factors related to refugee resettlement. Similar to the trend seen in Minnesota in the early 1900s, when most of the TB cases occurred in newly-arriving European immigrants, more than 80 percent of the TB cases in Minnesota now occur in people who were born in countries where TB remains common and who later moved to Minnesota.
To see how many refugees Minnesota has resettled and from what countries, go to these databases. Check out your state while you are there. Minnesota does not have the highest number of refugees resettled, so it would be interesting to cross check the states with the highest number of refugees with the CDC report on TB. Somone should do an analysis.