Overview
- England recorded 5,490 TB notifications in 2024, a rate of 9.4 per 100,000 that remains below the 2011 peak.
- Drug-resistant TB accounted for 2.2% of laboratory-confirmed cases, the highest since enhanced surveillance began in 2012, requiring longer and more complex treatment.
- The burden remains concentrated in urban areas, with London at 20.6 per 100,000 and the West Midlands at 11.5, while the South West rose 16% to 246 cases with a rate of 4.2.
- People born outside the UK accounted for 82% of notifications, though increases were seen in both UK-born and non-UK-born groups, with risk in UK-born populations linked to deprivation, homelessness, substance dependence and criminal-justice contact.
- Programme data show 338 pulmonary TB cases identified through pre-entry screening, latent TB testing offered to 17.2% of eligible new migrants with 15.1% positivity, and contact tracing finding 182 active and 1,276 latent infections, as UKHSA advises anyone with a cough lasting over three weeks to contact their GP.