Epidemiology of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in the United States, 1993–2006

Almost one-fifth of United States tuberculosis cases are extrapulmonary; unexplained slower annual case count decreases have occurred in extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), compared with annual case count decreases in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases. We describe the epidemiology of EPTB by means of US national tuberculosis surveillance data.

US tuberculosis cases reported from 1993 to 2006 were classified as either EPTB or PTB. EPTB encompassed lymphatic, pleural, bone and/or joint, genitourinary, meningeal, peritoneal, and unclassified EPTB cases. We excluded cases with concurrent extrapulmonary-pulmonary tuberculosis and cases of disseminated (miliary) tuberculosis. Demographic characteristics, drug susceptibility test results, and risk factors, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, were compared for EPTB and PTB cases.