Notes from the Director

Dear Colleague:

Welcome to a new year and new opportunities to prevent, control, and work toward the elimination of tuberculosis. This time of year, the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination (DTBE) participates in two important annual events that raise awareness and advance our efforts of TB prevention and control.

Many DTBE staff presented at the 2017 Annual Conference of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease – North American Region in Vancouver, Canada. A full list of authors and presentation titles is included in this issue.

At the end of March, we will observe one of the most important annual events for people working in TB control, World TB Day. For the second year, CDC will join the global Stop TB Partnership in adopting the 2017 World TB Day theme “Unite to End TB.” The DTBE World TB Day Website has resources and materials to help in your own efforts to raise awareness. Partners planning a World TB Day event can add activities to an online map.

We welcome these opportunities, and others throughout the TB community, to continue our work of TB prevention and control in 2017.

Philip LoBue, MD, FACP, FCCP
Director,
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

Highlights from State and Local Programs

Calling All TB Corrections Liaisons!

Are you a TB Corrections Liaison or does your TB work take you into correctional facilities? Want to learn more about controlling TB within correctional settings? If so, join the Corrections Liaison Partnership Workgroup (CLPW). The CLPW meets quarterly by conference call to discuss challenges and best practices for addressing TB in correctional settings. All who have an interest in controlling TB behind bars are welcome to join – including corrections staff (medical, administration, custody, and classification), public health staff, and others, especially those who fill the role of Corrections Liaison within their TB program.

TB Trials Consortium (TBTC) Updates

The Latest News from the TB Trials Consortium

TBTC Study 31 (also known as ACTG A5349; Rifapentine-containing treatment shortening regimens for pulmonary tuberculosis: A randomized, open-label, controlled phase 3 clinical trial) continues to enroll. As of February 8, 2017, the study had a total of 596 participants. The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) network is collaborating with TBTC, contributing substantially to enrollment.

Communications, Education, and Behavioral Studies Branch Updates

World TB Day 2017

Each year we recognize World TB Day on March 24 to commemorate the date Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacillus that causes TB. For the second year, CDC will join the Global Stop TB Partnership in promoting the 2017 World TB Day theme “Unite to End TB.”

Laboratory Branch Updates

Recently, DTBE’s Laboratory Branch and Data Management, Statistics, and Evaluation Branch collaborated to publish “Trends in testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex from US public health laboratories, 2009–2013” in Public Health Reports. The study, funded in part through the CDC TB Elimination and Laboratory Cooperative Agreement, provided an aggregate view of 2009–2013 national workload and turnaround time data reported by U.S. public health laboratories.

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Outbreak Investigations Branch Updates

Forging Links with Asian-American Community Health Organizations to Strengthen TB Prevention Efforts

The Tuberculosis Epidemiologic Studies Consortium (TBESC), a CDC-funded joint effort with TB programs and academic institutions in 11 states, seeks to identify ways to establish links between local health departments and community health providers to increase latent TB infection (LTBI) screening and treatment among high-risk populations.

New CDC Publications

November 2016

Mindra G, Wortham JM, Haddad MB, Salinas JL, Powell KM, Armstrong LR. Tuberculosis Among Incarcerated Hispanic Persons in the United States, 1993-2014. J Immigr Minor Health. 2016 Nov 29. PMID: 27900592. [Epub ahead of print].

December 2016

Garzan A, Willby MJ, Green KD, Gajadeera CS, Hou C, Tsodikov OV, Posey JE, Garneau-Tsodikova S. Sulfonamide-Based Inhibitors of Aminoglycoside Acetyltransferase Eis Abolish Resistance to Kanamycin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Med Chem. 2016 Dec 8;59(23):10619-10628. PMID: 27933949.