Tuberculosis among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States, 1993-2002.

Abstract

I examined trends in and epidemiological and clinical characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) within the American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) population of the United States and compared TB trends and characteristics in that population with TB trends and characteristics within other racial/ethnic groups. I analyzed all verified cases of TB reported to the US National Tuberculosis Surveillance System from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 2002. From 1993 through 2002, 196133 TB cases were reported, 2612 (1.3%) of which were in the AIAN population. During this period, TB case rates declined 40.4% among AIAN peoples, the smallest decrease among any US-born racial/ethnic group. In 2002, 15075 TB cases (5.2 per 100000 population) were reported, 180 of which were in the AIAN population (8.4 per 100000 population)-almost 6 times the rate for non-Hispanic Whites (1.5 per 100000 population). TB continues to be a significant health problem for the AIAN population. Vigilance and collaboration among local, state, federal, AIAN, and tribal TB control programs are essential to TB elimination among the AIAN population.