The vicious illness is often linked to areas with high levels of deprivation
Signs of pulmonary tuberculosis(Image: )
A new map has revealed the parts of Lancashire with the highest rates of a Victorian superbug – as union bosses demand the closure of an Amazon warehouse after an outbreak of TB.
The GMB union has written to Amazon after multiple cases of tuberculosis were reported at the internet giant’s Coventry site, with NHS staff called in to perform blood tests on workers. TB – which used to be known as “consumption” – was the scourge of Victorian Britain and caused the deaths of an estimated four million people between 1851 and 1910 in England and Wales. Victorian authors, including Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell, referenced the disease in their work.
The outbreak at the Amazon factory comes as TB infections have been rising in England in recent years, including in Lancashire. Last year, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned that England could lose its “low-incidence” status for TB, which it has held since 2017.
According to the latest UKHSA data, there were 5,490 notifications of TB in England in 2024, a 13% increase – or more than 600 additional cases – from 4,831 notifications in 2023, which was itself 11% higher than in 2023. TB notifications are a statutory requirement for GPs to report suspected or confirmed cases to the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System.
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, in parts of Lancashire, the rate is far higher, with four council areas exceeding the WHO low-incidence threshold. UKHSA figures show that in the three years to 2024, an average of 108 people were notified of a TB infection annually across Lancashire.
Blackburn with Darwen has the highest TB rate, with an average of 27 people with either a suspected or confirmed case of TB each year. That equates to a rate of 16.9 TB notifications per 100,000 people in Blackburn with Darwen, more than double the low-incidence threshold. It has also increased from 15.6 in 2023.
The TB rate is also above the low-incidence threshold in Burnley (14.7), Preston (14.6), and Pendle (13.9). You can see how it compares to where you live using our interactive map:
Worldwide, TB killed an estimated 1.23 million people in 2024, making it the leading cause of death from a single infectious disease, and one of the top 10 biggest causes of death overall. In England last year, 82% of TB notifications were in people born outside the UK, but there was an increase in both UK-born and non UK-born populations.
TB continues to be associated with deprivation, and the infection is more common in large urban areas. For those born in the UK, TB is more common among those who experience homelessness, drug and alcohol dependence and have had contact with the criminal justice system.
Amazon confirmed that a “small number” of people at its Coventry fulfilment centre tested positive for TB last year. It says those workers responded well to treatment, are no longer infectious, and that no new cases have been identified.
Local authorities with a three-year average infection rate above WHO low incidence threshold
Leicester (42.1)Newham (41.4)Brent (39.1)Harrow (35)Ealing (33.6)Slough (32.8)Hounslow (31.5)Redbridge (29.9)Manchester (25.3)Hillingdon (24.4)Luton (22.6)Wolverhampton (22.3)Barking and Dagenham (21.2)Tower Hamlets (20.2)Coventry (19.9)Croydon (19.9)Reading (19.7)Crawley (18.8)Waltham Forest (18.8)Peterborough (17.9)Sandwell (17.9)Birmingham (17.9)Greenwich (17.3)Blackburn with Darwen (16.9)Bolton (16.9)Haringey (15.8)Hammersmith and Fulham (15.5)Oxford (15.4)Southwark (15.1)Boston (15)Gravesham (15)Watford (14.9)Oldham (14.9)Enfield (14.9)Lambeth (14.8)Burnley (14.7)Preston (14.6)Westminster (14.4)Bradford (14.4)Cambridge (14.3)Camden (14.3)Pendle (13.9)Hackney and City of London (13.7)Rushmoor (13.5)Merton (13.5)Barnet (13.4)Great Yarmouth (13)Islington (12.9)Walsall (12.9)Nottingham (12.7)Lewisham (12.3)Stoke-on-Trent (12)Derby (11.9)Bexley (11.4)Salford (11.3)Wandsworth (11.2)Harlow (10.7)Welwyn Hatfield (10.4)Southampton (10.4)Kensington and Chelsea (10.3)Newcastle upon Tyne (10.2)Join our LancsLive WhatsApp group
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