TB increasing on the Texas border

Article subtitle: 
As COVID grabbed attention, Texas’ efforts to control tuberculosis slipped
Article publisher: 
Dallas Morning News
Article date: 
18 February 2023
Article category: 
National News
Medium
Article Body: 

... Before 2020, advances to eradicate TB, which is spread person-to-person through the air, were underway globally. It was considered by many public health experts to be a feasible goal, since tools are available to identify and treat it. But the prevalence of the disease in Mexico, and immigration along the border, has made it a longtime health concern in these communities.

In areas with high immigrant [illegal alien] traffic, such as Cameron County, TB is a serious health concern....

Cameron sits at the southernmost tip of Texas, and each year millions of people cross to and from Mexico at the four border crossings in the Brownsville region. Brownsville is the county’s seat and largest city. In 2019, before covid, Texas’ 32 border counties had an average TB incidence of 8.4 cases per 100,000 people — more than double that of the state overall, and nearly triple the national rate....