TB News - November 2025

Washington State Department of Health sent this bulletin at 11/14/2025 03:00 PM PST

November 2025

🔍Did You Know (DYK)?

NTIP Indicator of the Month – Treatment Initiation

DYK the National Tuberculosis Indicators Project (NTIP) is a web-based tool that utilizes nationally set indicators to measure program progress toward achieving the National Tuberculosis (TB) Objectives? Using NTIP indicator reports, TB program officials prioritize prevention and care activities, as well as program evaluation. This month, the highlighted NTIP indicator focuses on treatment initiation within 7 days of specimen collection for people with TB disease who have a positive acid-fast bacilli (AFB) sputum smear.

The sooner a patient with TB disease starts the right treatment the sooner they often improve clinically, feel better, and are less likely to transmit TB to others. In most situations, starting the right treatment quickly can also shorten the time to sputum culture conversion , a critical milestone that helps inform the total treatment length.

The treatment initiation indicator timeframe is based on specimen collection date, including laboratory turnaround time. The DOH TB Program team recommends utilizing the state courier service and avoiding specimen batching when sending specimens to the Washington Public Health Lab (PHL).

Washington State nearly reached the NTIP 2030 target of 91% for treatment initiation in 2020, but in recent years has consistently been below the target and national average for this indicator. There is still important work to be done to reach the NTIP 2030 target of 91% for treatment initiation. Several other factors could delay treatment initiation, including if the patient moves during workup, suspected drug resistance, and medication availability so, being aware of these risks can help promote quick corrective action making any delay as short as possible.

Questions about NTIP? Reach out the WA DOH TB Program at tbservices@doh.wa.gov.

Information for Local Health Jurisdictions (LHJs)

🗓️Targeted Testing Project Reminders

Targeted testing for TB is a strategy to diagnose and treat Latent TB Infection (LTBI) among people who are at high or increased risk for developing TB disease. Targeted testing is crucial for TB elimination; by focusing on these high-risk groups, targeted testing can prevent the progression of LTBI to active TB disease and reduce the overall incidence of TB in the community. Targeted testing activities also save public health funds in the long-term; reaching people early in the disease continuum is cheaper and less disruptive to people's lives compared to diagnosing and treating active TB disease.

We encourage all LHJs to consider how they might collaboratively reach groups at higher risk for TB in their local communities for screening and evaluate potential partner organizations for targeted testing work.

For those LHJs receiving federal funds from the DOH TB Program, there are only 2 new targeted testing deliverables remaining for 2025.

Due January 31, 2026 is the Annual ConCon Deliverables Report. You will be sent a reminder with an example template and last year's Report early January.
Targeted testing data (line-level or aggregate) is due by the first week of February to the DOH TB Program. These data will be aggregated and reported to CDC partners.

📄Employee TB Screening in Assisted Living and Adult Family Homes

The Department of Social and Health Services, Residential Care Services, recently issued letters to Assisted Living Facilities and Adult Family Homes clarifying TB screening and testing requirements for staff. They reinforce TB testing timelines for new employees as well as provide clarification for employees with a history of a positive TB test or who have had BCG vaccination in the past. The letters and corresponding WACs can be found here:

🧭Navigating TB Partners SharePoint Access Issues

Have you been granted access to the TB Partners SharePoint site but encountered an error when trying to access the site on a later date? This issue often occurs for users after updating your Microsoft account password or if you have not accessed the SharePoint site in in several months.

To resolve the issue, simply email tbservices@doh.wa.gov and include a screenshot of the error message you see when attempting to access the SharePoint site. A member of the DOH TB Program team will then follow up with next steps to restore your access.

Upcoming Events and Education Opportunities

October 6 - December 12, 2025 | Level 1: TB Basics, Contact Investigation, and Latent TB Infection

Curry International TB Center (CITC) has updated its TB CMCI by shifting from a series of live virtual trainings to a hybrid format. This includes five online self-paced modules, and one live interactive session. Application closes December 5th.

Innovations in Tuberculosis (TB) Webinar Series

This Mayo Clinic Center for TB monthly webinar series offers healthcare professionals the latest insights in TB.

December 4, 2025 | Targeting Tuberculosis: A Clinical Trials Update

This CITC training is intended for all members of the tuberculosis community, including healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocates.

December 18, 2025 | More Than Meets the Eye: Understanding Ocular Tuberculosis

This training will provide public health clinicians with a focused overview of ocular tuberculosis, a rare but severe manifestation of TB. This webinar is part of a collaborative Nurse Education Series. The 4 Tuberculosis Centers of Excellence for Training, Education, and Medical Consultation (TB COEs) and Heartland National TB Center (HNTC) have partnered with the National Tuberculosis Nursing Coalition (NTNC) to offer a tuberculosis nurse case conference series.

January 14, 2026 | Fundamentals of Medical & Case Management of Drug-Susceptible TB

This training is part of the CITC's TB Case Management and Contact Investigation Intensive (CMCI) core training, which is designed for tuberculosis case managers and public health nurses who deliver case management services to patients with active or latent TB within the public health setting.

March 11, 2026 | Achieving Treatment Completion for Drug-Susceptible TB

This training is part of the CITC’s TB Case Management and Contact Investigation Intensive (CMCI) core training, which is designed for tuberculosis case managers and public health nurses who deliver case management services to patients with active or latent TB within the public health setting. We are very excited to announce that TB nurse consultant, Lisa Ferguson, will be presenting this core training. Consider submitting your application today to join Lisa as she teaches this important content.

Washington's TB Project ECHO

On select Tuesdays 12:30-1:30 pm PT, join the lunch-time virtual discussion about real TB cases with your peers. This free interactive event is guided by a panel of local TB experts. Click here for more information about this local project and our partners who make this ongoing event possible.

SEATRAC Seminar Series

SEATRAC hosts and promotes seminars, one Friday session per month from 12 - 1 PM, focused on TB basic and clinical sciences by local trainees', local and visiting faculty, and special guests.

Video Recordings and Education Opportunities

Mayo Clinic Center for TB Recorded Webinars

CE units are not available for the recorded webinar library.

CITC Archived Webinars
CME/CE units will not be offered for these trainings.

Rutgers TB Institute Webinar Archives
CE units are not available for these archives.

Southeastern National TB Center (SNTC) Archived Webinars
CME/CE units are not offered for these trainings.

SNTC Online Courses
CME units are offered for these trainings.

CDC

Efficacy and Safety of 4-Month Rifapentine-Based Tuberculosis Treatments in Persons with Diabetes CME unit expires on 2/24/2026.

The Union

TB ECHO Recorded Archives
Missed a TB ECHO^® session? TB ECHO^®has didactic presentations available for viewing on YouTube. Handouts related to the presentation are included where appropriate. Watch recorded TB ECHO®.

Tools and Resources

Minnesota's Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health

Access helpful tools, trainings, and updates for newcomers and refugee health here.

CDC

CDC Learning Connection.
CDC TRAIN is a comprehensive catalog of free public health training opportunities from the Public Health Foundation. For TB-related trainings, click here.
FindTBResources.cdc.gov - TB educational materials for patients and providers.
Visit Everyday Words for Public Health Communication to find plain language alternatives for public health jargon.
TB Personal Stories patient videos to help raise awareness about TB in the US.
we are TB offers comprehensive peer support for current TB patients and TB clinics, including weekly live support group sessions.
Subscribe to the CDC's quarterly newsletter, TB Notes!

DOH Refugee and Immigrant Health Program

Afghan Health Resources - Fact sheets, webinars, videos, and other health resources (scroll down for TB resources).
Ukrainian Health Resources - Fact sheets, webinars, videos, and other health resources to support new arrivals from Ukraine (scroll down for TB resources).

Southeastern National TB Center

Individualized Country Guides

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