Our findings suggest that environmental contamination of field hospitals and infection transmission within health care facilities played a major role in this outbreak. On the basis of these findings, maintaining infection control throughout the military health care system is essential. Novel strategies may be required to prevent the transmission of pathogens in combat field hospitals.

After years of decline, the prevalence of LTBI remained relatively constant between 2000 and 2011. A large reservoir of 12.4 million still exists, with foreign-born persons representing an increasingly larger proportion of this reservoir (73%). Estimates and risk factors for LTBI were generally similar between the TST and QFT-GIT. The updated estimates of LTBI and associated risk groups can help improve targeted testing and treatment in the United States.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00475930.

No abstract