Short communicationMycobacterium tuberculosis complex transmission is not associated with recent immigration (≤ 5 years) in Florida

- We quantified the link between TB transmission and recent immigration among foreign-born persons in Florida.
- A third of recent transmission occurred among persons who had lived in the US five years or less.
- Recent immigration is not associated with TB transmission after accounting for clinical and socio-demographic covariate.
- Homelessness, drug use and TB lineage are risk factors for TB transmission among Foreign-born Persons in Florida, US.

As tuberculosis (TB) incidence decreases in the US, foreign-born persons continue to account for a larger proportion of the burden. In these cross-sectional analyses of 1149 culture-confirmed TB cases genotyped using spoligotyping and 24-locus MIRU, we show that over a quarter of cases among the foreign-born population in Florida resulted from recent transmission of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. In addition, over a third of these cases occurred among persons who had immigrated 5 years or less prior to their diagnosis. Although recent immigration was not a significant predictor of TB transmission, younger age, birthplace in the Americas, homelessness, drug use and TB lineage are risk factors for TB transmission among the foreign-born population in Florida. These data provide actionable insights into TB transmission among the foreign-born population in Florida.