California Agency Issues ‘Health Advisory’ on Tuberculosis

Officials in California warned that tuberculosis is on the rise across the state and issued a ‘health advisory.’

A doctor examines the x-rays of a tuberculosis patient in a file image. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Officials in California recently issued a “health advisory” after a “substantial increase” in the number of cases of the deadly bacterial infection.

The state reported around 2,100 cases of active tuberculosis, or TB, last year, or a 15 percent jump from the previous year, officials said in a recent report. Many of the cases involved are people with latent infections that later became active, which allowed them to develop symptoms and spread it to other people, according to the California Department of Public Health.