ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996               TAG: 9603250117
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW CASES OF TB DECLINE IN MOST STATES, BUT NOT ALL

New cases of tuberculosis dropped 6.4 percent in the United States last year, the third year of decline after an eight-year surge.

But there was a worrisome increase in cases of the infectious lung disease in the nation's heartland, government doctors said Friday.

``This is not a time for celebration but a time for cautious and guarded optimism,'' said Dr. Kenneth Castro, TB chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, 22,812 Americans got active TB, down from 24,361 the year before, the CDC said. That decline followed drops of 5 percent in 1993 and 4 percent in 1994.

But 20 states either saw no change or an increase in TB last year. Among the worst rises: Arizona, up 28 percent; Minnesota, 11 percent; Iowa, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, 9 percent; and Wisconsin, 7 percent.

TB among Americans had surged 20 percent from 1985 to 1992. Some 15 million Americans are infected with the bacterium that causes TB, but because the bug doesn't sicken everyone, 1.5 million will develop active TB sometime.

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