The UK Health Security Agency ( UKHSA ) is asking the the public to be vigilant when discovering a cough as tuberculosis levels have risen in the Merseyside and the North West.
Anyone with a cough, particularly those in groups that are at high risk for TB, are being urged not to dismiss their persistent cough and fever as COVID-19 as it could be caused by a range of other issues, including TB.
There were a total of 483 cases of tuberculosis in the North West last year, with the total number this year expected to be similar. The TB team at the Royal Liverpool Hospital believe that there have been around 100 cases of both active and latent tuberculosis in Liverpool.