XI. Community Tuberculosis Prevention Control
Last Updated April 2026
TB is a reportable disease in Georgia. All Georgia physicians, laboratories, and other health care providers are required by law to immediately report persons with confirmed or presumed active TB disease (including extrapulmonary) cases and latent TB infection (inactive TB) in children under the age of 6 years under their care to Georgia public health authorities.
TB cases may be directly reported to a County Health Department, a District Health Office, or to the State TB Program and TB Epidemiology Section of the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH), which is responsible for the systematic collection of all reported TB cases in the state.
Persons meeting the TB reporting requirements should be immediately reported to public health authorities. Immediate reporting of TB cases enables public health staff to follow up with patients, administer directly observed therapy (DOT), monitor TB treatment until completion, evaluate and screen individuals exposed to a TB case, and control TB outbreaks.
Cases may be reported electronically through SendSS at http://sendss.state.ga.us, by calling 1-866-PUB-HLTH (1-866-782-4584), or by calling the District TB Coordinator in the county where the patient resides (see Appendix).
Hospital infection control personnel, as well as public health nurses, outreach staff, epidemiologists, and communicable disease specialists involved in disease surveillance are encouraged to report TB through SendSS and register to become a SendSS user by logging into the system’s website at: http://sendss.state.ga.us then selecting TB from the list of reportable diseases.
Public health authorities collect data about reported TB cases including demographic, clinical, risk factor, and contact information⌃- This data is analyzed to describe the distribution of the disease among Georgia’s population, identify high risk groups and TB clusters, and describe trends in morbidity, mortality, drug resistance patterns, treatment outcomes, and infection rates among contacts exposed to persons with active TB disease.
- The data are used at state and local levels to guide policy and decision making, set priorities for program interventions, evaluate program performance for the prevention and control of TB in Georgia, educate key stakeholders and the general public on TB, and ensure continued funding for TB control efforts.
- Georgia’s TB surveillance data are transmitted electronically to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and become part of the national TB surveillance database.
Latent TB infection (inactive TB) in young children (under age 5) is also reportable in Georgia. Young children with latent TB infection are at very high risk of developing active TB disease including TB meningitis. These children have, by definition, been recently exposed to an adult with contagious TB, and there are often additional young children who have also been exposed. Rapid public health response will address both of these concerns, including conducting a source case investigation.
B. Georgia TB Reporting Requirements⌃In Georgia, all persons with tuberculosis (TB) must be reported immediately to the public health authorities, including County Health Departments, District Health Offices, or the State TB Program. Physicians, hospitals, laboratories, and other health care providers are required to report any of the following:
- Any person with confirmed active TB disease
- Any person presumed to have active TB disease
- Latent TB infection (inactive TB) in children under the age of 6 years
Confirmed and presumed TB is indicated by:
- Any positive culture for M. tuberculosis,
- Any positive smear for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB),
- Any positive nucleic acid amplification (NAA) test result for M. tuberculosis,
- Treatment with two or more anti-tuberculosis medications,
- Symptoms consistent with active TB disease and recent exposure to someone with active TB disease,
- Symptoms consistent with active TB disease and a history of latent TB infection (inactive TB),
- Symptoms consistent with active TB Disease and a positive tuberculin skin test (TST [TB skin test]) or TB blood test (interferon gamma release assay [IGRA]) for M. tuberculosis, or
- An abnormal chest radiograph suggestive of active TB disease.
- Latent TB infection (inactive TB) is indicated by:
- A positive tuberculin skin test (TST [TB skin test]) or TB blood test (interferon gamma release assay [IGRA]) for M. tuberculosis, and
- Confirmed or presumed active TB disease has been ruled out.
Reporting should never be delayed pending identification of M. tuberculosis with a NAA test or culture. Patients should be reported whenever TB is suspected, even if bacteriologic evidence of disease is lacking or treatment has not been initiated.