KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas Department of Health and Environment official told a Kansas Senate committee Tuesday the agency continues to work to resolve an "unprecedented" tuberculosis outbreak in Wyandotte County.
Ashley Goss, KDHE's deputy secretary of Public Health, discussed the outbreak during an agency overview Tuesday, Jan. 21, before the Kansas Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare.
Health officials have been monitoring the number of cases associated with the outbreak for several years. This past year, Goss told senators that officials were able to decrease active cases in 2024. She said one of KDHE's 2025 goals is to continue to work with large employers in the county to identify any additional cases in the county.
Watch the Senate hearing in the video player below.
According to the latest data on KDHE's website, there are 60 active cases of tuberculosis in Wyandotte County, and another seven cases reported in neighboring Johnson County.
Goss said KDHE continues to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local officials at the Unified Government's Public Health Department to track and treat cases.
Tuberculosis is a bacteria that normally impacts the lungs of infected patients, though other impacts are possible as well. Cases can be active in that patients have symptoms and the bacteria can spread to others. There are also cases of inactive or latent tuberculosis, in which the patient doesn't feel sick and the bacteria isn't transmissible.
More information about tuberculosis is available online.
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