Surge in cases of Victorian superbug as Midlands named among hotspots
Cases of a Victorian superbug surged last year, with parts of the Midlands named among hotspots. New data published by the UK Health Security Agency shows that reported notifications of Tuberculosis (TB) increased by 13% last year in England compared to 2023.
There were 5,480 notifications of the disease in 2024, up from 4,850 the previous year. Eight in 10 TB notifications in 2024 (82%) were in people born outside the UK, but there was an increase in both UK-born and non-UK-born populations.
Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Sandwell were among places which reported higher than average case rates. Leicester, meanwhile, has the highest rate in the country.
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Higher case rates are concentrated in the most populated parts of the country; London, West Midlands and Greater Manchester. TB continues to be associated with deprivation and is more common in large urban areas.
Among people born in the UK, TB is more common in those experiencing homelessness, drug or alcohol dependency, and contact with the criminal justice system. London (1,877) and the West Midlands (709) had the highest number of TB notifications.
But TB cases are growing fastest in the West Midlands, where the number of notifications increased by 22%. While England remains a low-incidence country for TB, the notification rate rose from 8.5 cases per 100,000 people in 2023 to 9.5 cases per 100,000 in 2024.
The latest local authority data, covering the three years to 2023, shows that, for the first time, Leicester had the highest infection rate in England. Between 2021 and 2023, the average notification rate was 40.7 TB notifications per 100,000 of the population in Leicester.
Only one other local authority district, Newham in London, had a rate above 40 TB notifications per 100,000 of the population (40.6).
Dr Esther Robinson, head of the TB Unit at UKHSA, said: “TB remains a serious public health issue in England. The infection is preventable and curable. If you have moved to England from a country where TB is more common, please be aware of the symptoms of TB so you can get promptly tested and treated through your GP surgery.
“Not every persistent cough, along with a fever, is caused by flu or Covid. A cough that usually has mucus and lasts longer than three weeks can be caused by a range of other issues, including TB. Please speak to your GP if you think you could be at risk.”
TB caused the deaths of an estimated four million people between 1851 and 1910 in England and Wales.