It is a worrying drug-resistant strain
15:27, 23 Oct 2025Updated 15:28, 23 Oct 2025
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Map of Victorian superbug cases in Devon(Image: Reach)
Cases of a Victorian superbug are rising across most of Devon as medics record record levels of a worrying drug-resistant strain.
Figures released by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show there were 5,490 notifications of tuberculosis (TB) in England in 2024.
That was a 13% increase – or more than 600 additional cases – from 4,831 notifications in 2023, which was itself 11% higher than in 2023.
The proportion of drug-resistant TB reached its highest level since enhanced surveillance began in 2012. Of all laboratory-confirmed cases, 2.2% showed resistance to multiple drugs.
The UKHSA has already warned that if the trend of rising cases is not reversed, the UK could lose its “low-incidence” status for TB, which it has held since 2017.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies countries with a threshold of 10 TB cases per 100,000 people as low-incidence.
England now has a rate of 9.4 notifications per 100,000 people, just below the low-incidence threshold and up from 8.5 per 100,000 people in 2023. However, that is still well below this century’s peak of 15.6 notifications per 100,000 in 2011.
In Devon, rates are below the national average, but the latest figures show they are rising.
In the three years to 2024, Plymouth had an annual average of 15 TB notifications. That equates to 5.4 TB notifications per 100,000 people, the highest rate in Devon.
It has also increased from an average of 4.1 per 100,000 people in the three years to 2023.
In Torbay, the TB notification rate increased from 4.5 per 100,000 to 6.3, in Exeter it rose from 3.2 to 4.2, in Teignbridge from 2.2 to 2.7, and in South Hams from 1.1 to 2.6.
You can see how it compares to where you live using our interactive map.
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