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(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) – The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department joins the World Health Organization (WHO) in recognizing World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24, 2025. This annual event seeks to raise awareness of ongoing efforts to eliminate TB worldwide. Even though TB is preventable and curable, it continues to be the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with about 1.25 million deaths globally in 2023 ( WHO Global TB Report, 2024 ). In Santa Barbara County, rates of TB increased 20% from the previous year, reflecting a return to pre-pandemic levels.
Active TB is a disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The respiratory disease is transmitted through the air from person-to-person. Symptoms for active TB can include a cough that last for 3 weeks or more, cough with blood or sputum, chest pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, or weight loss. TB may be dormant at first, often referred to as latent TB infection (LTBI) with no symptoms. It may take years for LTBI to progress into active TB disease and millions of people in the U.S. have LTBI and don’t know it. Risk factors for TB disease include: