BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) — Local leaders at the Brazos County Health District are fighting back against the high number of tuberculosis cases across Texas.
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Texas currently has the second-highest number of cases in the U.S., trailing only California. There were 1,279 cases reported in the state in 2024. Even with the numbers stabilizing, Texas is still a hot spot for the disease.
For more than 9,000 years, people have been dealing with tuberculosis, or TB. The disease is caused by germs spreading from person to person through the air and usually affects the lungs.
"Tuberculosis has been around in all likelihood as long as mankind has been around and probably longer," Dr. Seth Sullivan said.
Sullivan, who is the Brazos County Health Authority, noted the ongoing battle against the illness. "It has been a huge challenge to treat over the years and we still see it here in 2026," Sullivan said.
Health professionals tell me that other than direct contact, TB does not spread as easily as some other diseases.
"It does not stay alive on any surfaces like other things like COVID and the flu," Ashley Yantz said.
Yantz is a TB registered nurse case manager. She noted you can usually tell when someone has the disease based on specific warning signs.
"Symptoms are usually cough for more than three weeks, coughing up blood, night sweats, fatigue," Yantz said.
TB is preventable and can be treated and even cured if you seek out treatment.
"We do know that if we can get them early treatment, if we can treat latent tuberculosis, that we can significantly decrease the likelihood of it going on to become that active tuberculosis that we're so concerned about," Sullivan said.
"I've literally seen somebody who at the beginning of their treatment was just, they were just gray. They looked very very tired, like in every way possible. And by the time we finished their treatment, it was just a whole different person," Yantz said.
Local health experts tell me this is a good reminder that even old-school diseases are not quite finished with us yet. If you suspect you may have TB, contact your doctor to schedule a test.
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