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Tuberculosis (TB): diagnosis, screening, management and data

Information on the diagnosis, screening, epidemiology and public health strategy for tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases.

Updates to this page

From:
UK Health Security Agency
Published:
1 June 2014
Last updated:
30 July 2026
Show all updates

  1. Added 'Reports of cases of TB to UK enhanced tuberculosis surveillance systems, 2000 to 2025' and 'TB in health and social care workers (HSCW): England 2010 to 2024'.

  2. Added link to 'Tuberculosis (TB) factsheet'.

  3. Added translations to 'Tuberculosis (TB) factsheet'.

  4. Restructured and removed closed pages.

  5. Added 'Tuberculosis (TB) information sheet'.

  6. Added link to 'Tuberculosis in England, 2025 report'.

  7. Added Tuberculosis in England, 2024 report.

  8. Removed out of date documents such as 'Tuberculosis in the workplace', added newer reports, changed headings and made the page more accessible.

  9. Added 'Tuberculosis (TB) notifications reported to enhanced TB surveillance systems: UK, 2000 to 2022'.

  10. Added 'Tuberculosis in England, 2022 report (data up to end of 2021)' and 'Reports of cases of TB to UK enhanced tuberculosis surveillance systems, 2000 to 2021'.

  11. Archived PHE documents.

  12. Added 'Tuberculosis in England: national quarterly reports'.

  13. Publication "Tuberculosis (TB): a resource to support TB in low incidence areas" in the 'Strategy' section.

  14. Added 'National quarterly report of tuberculosis in England: Quarter 4, 2019 provisional data' report.

  15. Added new page 'Tuberculosis in England: quarterly reports'.

  16. Added TB annual report for 2018 and the 2018 slide set.

  17. Added resource for tackling tuberculosis in under-served populations.

  18. Added guidance for the unlicensed BCG vaccine, in response to a vaccine shortage: training material for healthcare professionals; guide for parents and carers.

  19. Added existing latent TB testing guidance and patient leaflet in multiple languages to the collection.

  20. Added treatment and management advice documents from the National Knowledge Service.

  21. Added publications under 'NKS-TB treatment and management advice'.

  22. Publishing annual report and statistics covering up to 2014.

  23. The Tuberculosis in Kent, Surrey and Sussex: annual report has been published.

  24. The Tuberculosis: notifying cases guidance has been added.

  25. Updated to include 'Bovine tuberculosis: public health management' guidance.

  26. 2014 annual report added.

  27. First published.

Introduction to tuberculosis (TB)

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, which includes:

  • M. tuberculosis
  • M. africanum
  • M. bovis
  • rare species such as M. canetti, M. caprae, M. microti, and M. orygis

TB mainly affects the lungs but can involve almost any part of the body. It is spread through the air when a person with active TB in the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, or speaks, releasing bacteria into the air that others can inhale.

Common symptoms of TB include:

  • persistent cough (lasting more than 3 weeks)
  • coughing up blood or sputum
  • a high temperature and/or night sweats
  • unexplained weight loss
  • feeling tired or exhausted

It can be treated with specific antibiotics but can be serious if not treated.

For more information and seeking advice if you have symptoms, visit the NHS tuberculosis page.

In the UK, TB is a notifiable disease, meaning all suspected or confirmed cases must be reported to public health authorities within 3 working days.

Diagnosis and laboratory investigation

Screening and treatment for active TB and latent TB infection (LTBI)

See also: Tuberculosis: clinical diagnosis and management of tuberculosis, and measures for its prevention and control.

Public health approaches to TB prevention and care

Subscribe to the TB Unit newsletter  for progress on the TB Action Plan.

See the BCG vaccination programme for further information including guidance, training and patient data pathways on vaccination and Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) screening.

Epidemiology and surveillance data of TB in the UK

The UK Health Security Agency collects real-time tuberculosis (TB) surveillance using the web-based national TB surveillance system (NTBS). This includes laboratory data on TB drug sensitivity, species and genomic relatedness (how similar TB bacteria are in samples from different people).

Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis)

Special topics

Patient resources

See also: The truth about about TB.

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