A tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas has killed two people and caused at least 146 to become infected with the potentially deadly respiratory disease during one of the largest outbreaks in the nation's history.

An ongoing tuberculosis outbreak in two Kansas counties has sickened dozens since January 2024. Health officials are raising the alarm over a large and ongoing tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in Kansas.

State health officials said that dozens of people in the Kansas City, Kan., area have the disease, which has drawn a federal response.

Kansas health officials are tackling the largest tuberculosis outbreak in US history, with 67 confirmed cases since the start of 2025.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has said the risk to the general public in surrounding counties remains “very low.”

“While TB cases in Wyandotte and Johnson counties are getting attention, we want to assure our residents that what we’re seeing in Saline County is normal,” said Jason Tiller, Saline County Health Officer. “There is no immediate reason for concern. TB is preventable, treatable, and does not pose a general risk to the public.”

A yearlong outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City, Kansas area has taken local experts aback, even if it does not appear to be the largest outbreak of the disease in U.S. history as a state health official claimed last week.

The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE) says all TB patients in the county have completed treatment and are not infectious

An ongoing tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas has become the largest in U.S. history. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has been tracking this outbreak for over a year.

The outbreak started last January. Kansas health officials say numbers are trending downward, but they still expect to find more cases.

More than 60 people were being treated in the Kansas City area as of Friday, according to the state health department.