A person with tuberculosis was identified on a school campus in Fort Lauderdale, the Florida Department of Health in Broward County said Tuesday.
The active TB case was reported at Dillard High School, a magnet school for computer technology and performing arts with students in Grades 6-12.
Health officials did not say whether the infected person was a student, teacher or administrator. However, anyone determined to be in close contact with the individual has been notified, Dillard’s principal said in a message to parents.
The health department said it will offer testing at Dillard on Wednesday.
Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that usually attack the lungs and spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. If not treated properly, TB can be fatal.
In the late 1800s, TB killed one out of every seven people living in the United States and Europe. But the development of antibiotics and public health efforts succeeded in treating infections and tracking down those they infected, leading to cases falling for decades.
Most people in the U.S. are at low risk of getting TB, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 10,300 cases were reported in the U.S. last year, an 8% increase from 2023 and the highest since 2011, according to preliminary data posted in March by the CDC.
Both the number of cases and the rate of infections rose. Rates were up among all age groups, and 34 states reported an increase.
Florida reported 681 cases in 2024, a 9 percent increase from the previous year, according to the CDC data. The disease affected 2.9 per 100,000 people in the state.
The rise is mainly due to international travel and migration, according to the CDC. Most U.S. cases are diagnosed in people born in other countries.
Outbreaks in several states have contributed to recent TB trends, including in the Kansas City area, where the rate jumped 148% last year, according to the CDC. Alaska and Hawaii continue to have the highest case rates.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
