A new report reveals that due to years of budget cuts and staffing shortages, the New York City Department of Health is struggling to contain a substantial increase in local cases of tuberculosis (TB), with the disease seeing a sharp 20% rise from the same time the previous year.
According to internal preliminary data reported by Politico, approximately 500 active TB cases have been identified in New York City in 2023, making it the worst year for TB infections in a decade.
Dr. Bruce Hirsch, an infectious disease specialist at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., informed The Post that tuberculosis is the leading killer worldwide among infectious diseases.
The recent resurgence in TB cases in New York City is more dramatic than expected, says Elizabeth Lovinger of Treatment Action Group, a public health advocacy group in the city.
Lovinger highlights that a spike in TB and other infectious diseases in New York often signals similar trends for the rest of the country.
Experts, including Hirsch, believe that New York City is a focal point for global events, including health crises.
Hirsch uses the example of COVID-19, which had a significant outbreak in New York, to illustrate that the city is often at the center of public health emergencies.
He suggests that housing shortages and a declining public health infrastructure are partly responsible for the resurgence of TB. In his view, crowded conditions and healthcare staffing shortages, particularly in public health clinics, have worsened the situation.
He describes TB as a “sneaky” and “persistent” disease that is well-adapted to infecting humans.
The increase in TB cases in New York City is also linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant vaccine fatigue, which have obstructed efforts to diagnose and treat TB.
To make matters worse since the spring of 2022, over 100,000 illegal migrants have arrived in New York City.
These migrants are at a higher risk of developing active TB infections due to their living conditions, which are often crowded and poorly ventilated, creating an environment conducive to the spread of the disease.
The situation is further complicated by the challenge of finding housing for newly arrived migrants, who are at an increased risk of TB due to their living environments.
As the weather gets colder, experts fear the situation could worsen with more people staying indoors, potentially aiding the spread of TB and other respiratory illnesses.
TB, whose symptoms may start mildly but can worsen over time, is a dangerous disease that kills approximately 1.5 million people annually.
While it can often be treated with drugs if diagnosed early, there are strains of the TB bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, that have developed resistance to multiple drugs, rendering the disease almost incurable in some cases.
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