Tuberculosis cases have been rising as public health agencies struggle to keep up

By: Nada Hassanein

Outlets: Stateline

Published: February 27, 2026

Words: 1,680

Last Updated: 5 days, 15 hours ago

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In Johnson County, Iowa, the number of tuberculosis cases has increased in recent years — and so has the cost of containing it.

The cost of contact tracing and surveillance, traveling each day to patients’ homes to ensure they take their meds or booking hotel rooms to quarantine patients, has surged from $17,000 in 2020 to $65,000 last year.

That doesn’t include $13,000 spent last year for language translation, as many of the cases were …

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