Nearly 2,200 immigrants headed for America have tested positive for tuberculosis under a more-sensitive exam, U.S. health officials said this week.
NBC News reports that in 2012, overseas physicians using the tougher screening identified 629 additional cases of TB among people bound for U.S. borders, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new screening test, started in 2007, includes a sputum culture test for applicants. In that exam, physicians ask people to cough deeply and spit material from their lungs into a container.
That sample, placed in a culture dish, is then watched for bacteria growth.
"These requirements have now been completely implemented in all countries with U.S.-bound immigrants and refugees," CDC officials said in a statement.
In 2013, about 9 million people became ill with TB worldwide, according to the CDC reports. That year about 9,500 U.S. cases were reported — 3.6 percent fewer than in 2012.
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