A doctor examines a patient's x-rays at a TB clinic.
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Topline:
For the third year in a row, tuberculosis cases in L.A. County are up. From 2022 to 2023, TB cases increased almost 4%.
What is tuberculosis? You may be thinking of Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone daintily coughing into a handkerchief. While it may seem like a relic of the past, TB kills more people worldwide than any other disease besides COVID-19. The infectious disease is caused by bacteria and most often affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit.
That sounds... alarming. It's important to note that most people who test positive in L.A. have "latent tuberculosis." That’s where the bacteria lives in the body without making the person sick, and they are not contagious. "Active tuberculosis" is when symptoms surface. The good news is that both stages are treatable with antibiotics and curable. But it’s best to catch it early. L.A. County has outreach and testing programs to do just that.
Why is TB so high in L.A.? Experts point to the county’s huge population — more than 10 million people — as well as being a hub for travel and immigration.
After declining for over a decade, tuberculosis cases in Los Angeles County have ticked up each year since 2020.
Cases rose more than 18% in that time. The L.A. County Department of Public Health recorded 542 cases last year, compared to 458 in 2020.
“We are definitely one of the hotspots, in California and the United States,” said Dr. Julie Higashi, director of L.A. County’s tuberculosis control program.
How serious is this?
Tuberculosis may seem like a relic of the past in the U.S. and other wealthy countries, yet it still kills more people worldwide than any other infectious disease besides COVID-19 — with about 1.6 million people dying from TB annually.
“It’s the No. 1 infectious disease killer in the world. And a fourth of the world’s population is infected,” Higashi said.
Since 2020, TB rates have steadily crept up in L.A. County.
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Courtesy of the L.A. County Public Health Department
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Not everyone infected with the TB bacteria becomes sick or even knows they have it. Higashi said most of the people who test positive in L.A. have latent tuberculosis. That’s where the bacteria lives in the body without making the person sick, and they are not contagious. Health officials estimate more than 685,000 people in L.A. County have latent TB.
One in 10 develop active tuberculosis, with symptoms you’d associate with tuberculosis patients in movies, such as hacking, bloody coughs, wheezing breaths and a pale complexion. They can spread the bacteria by coughing, talking or even laughing. Both stages are treatable with antibiotics and curable, but it’s best to catch it early.
“About 80% of TB cases in L.A. County are preventable,” Higashi said.
Why are TB cases rising?
To explain the historically high numbers, Higashi points to L.A. County’s gigantic population of more than 10 million, as well as being an immigration center for people coming to the country.
“We have a lot of people traveling internationally, coming in and out of the country, we have a large population of people experiencing homelessness, a large incarcerated population,” she said.
Dr. Julie Higashi, director of L.A. County’s tuberculosis control program, calls TB "a disease of humanity."
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Jackie Fortiér / LAist
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Higashi blames the pandemic for the recent rise in cases, since reduced access to medical care may have prevented some infections from being identified. People are also now traveling internationally again, with many traveling from L.A. to Central and South American countries, as well as Southeast Asia, all parts of the world with high tuberculosis rates.
Higashi also noted that many people in L.A. County live “binational lives” and travel frequently to Mexico and other countries where the disease is endemic.
According to the Los Angeles County Department of Health, which divides the region into districts, the Alhambra, Central and South districts have the highest TB rates in Los Angeles County.
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Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
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That’s why TB cases in the county are concentrated in areas with historically high immigrant communities in the Alhambra, Central and South areas. Public health focuses on their screening efforts in these areas.
What resources are available in LA?
Today, immigrants and those seeking asylum in the U.S. have to take a blood test that detects any tuberculosis infection, but in the past it was just an X-ray, which doesn’t show a case where the bacteria is dormant. In L.A. County, 67% of TB cases are in patients over 45 years old.
“Many people as they get older will reactivate if their immune system is disrupted by some other medical condition,” Higashi explained. “We really want to get to as many people as possible before the progression happens.”
The uptick in cases since 2020 is a reminder of how important tuberculosis screenings are, Higashi said.
Tuberculosis Testing Resources
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria and most often affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit, according to the World Health Organization.
TB is preventable and curable. People who are infected but not yet ill with the disease cannot transmit it.
TB disease is usually treated with antibiotics. Without treatment, it can be fatal.
L.A. County Public Health offers TB resources in multiple languages for asylum seekers who need to be tested. People seeking asylum in L.A. County can also call (818) 291-8901 for assistance.
She pointed to county-based clinics, as well as public health field teams that do contact tracing investigations that offer screenings and treatment. Doctors should also consider testing for tuberculosis if they have a vulnerable patient.
“We also have centralized program resources to support hospitals and other providers to find and treat tuberculosis. I think we’ve done a good job of finding and treating those cases proactively,” Higashi said.
March 24 is World TB Day. Four local landmarks — LA City Hall, the 6th Street bridge, Union Station and the entrance to LAX — will be lit red to raise awareness.
Kevin Tidmarsh
is a producer for LAist, covering news and culture. He’s been an audio/web journalist for about a decade.
Published January 1, 2026 6:21 PM
Conditions along the Santa Ana River can become dangerous during heavy rains.
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Courtesy Orange County Public Works
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Topline:
An unidentified body was recovered from the bed of the Santa Ana River just before noon on Jan. 1, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.
What we know: Officials said a witness called 911 to report a person in the riverbed near the intersection of Warner Avenue and Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana. The person traveled about two miles downstream before the search and rescue crew recovered their body in the city of Fountain Valley.
The response: About 60 firefighters from OCFA and the Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa fire departments contributed to the water rescue effort.
The danger of moving water: With more rain in the forecast this weekend, keep in mind that just six inches of fast-moving water can knock down most people, while 12 inches can carry away most cars.
How to stay safe: Emergency officials recommend limiting travel as much as possible during heavy rain and floods, including by car. If you see flooding in your path, remember the slogan, “Turn around, don’t drown.” LAist also has a guide on driving safely in the rain.
Manny Ruiz strikes alongside other workers with Teamsters 2785 at Amazon Warehouse DCK6 in the Bayview District in San Francisco on Dec. 19, 2024. Amazon workers at multiple facilities across the U.S. went on strike to fight for a union contract.
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Jungho Kim for CalMatters
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Topline:
Under a law taking effect Jan. 1, California seeks to uphold the labor and unionization rights of private-sector employees, as the federal agency that has held that power for decades is in limbo.
Where things stand: The new law’s future is unclear because the Trump administration is challenging it.
Why now: The law, which grants more powers to the California Public Employment Relations Board, is a response to the National Labor Relations Board lacking a quorum. President Donald Trump fired the NLRB’s chairperson, Gwynne Wilcox, days after he began his second term in January. His two nominees to the board have yet to be confirmed, so the federal board has been without the three members it needs for a quorum for months.
California under a law taking effect today seeks to uphold the labor and unionization rights of private-sector employees, as the federal agency that has held that power for decades is in limbo.
But the new law’s future is unclear because the Trump administration is challenging it.
The law, which grants more powers to the California Public Employment Relations Board, is a response to the National Labor Relations Board lacking a quorum.
President Donald Trump fired the NLRB’s chairperson, Gwynne Wilcox, days after he began his second term in January. His two nominees to the board have yet to be confirmed, so the federal board has been without the three members it needs for a quorum for months.
Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, the Inglewood Democrat who wrote the bill, said when the governor signed it in September that “California will not sit idly as its workers are systematically denied the right to organize due to employer intransigence or federal inaction.”
The NLRB sued California over the law in October, saying in its lawsuit that the state is trying to assert authority over “areas explicitly reserved for federal oversight.”
On the legal challenge to the law, Terry Schanz, McKinnor’s chief of staff, referred CalMatters to the state attorney general. Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office is responsible for defending the law in court. A spokesperson for Bonta said the office would have nothing to say about it.
With the NLRB unable to fulfill its duties, states are trying to fill the gap in enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, which Congress passed in 1935. But labor experts contacted by CalMatters do not have high hopes for the California law, which is similar to a law passed in New York this year. They said courts, including the Supreme Court, have ruled that states cannot decide matters pertaining to federal labor law because of preemption, the doctrine that a higher authority of law overrides a lower authority.
“It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where the courts do not overturn these (state) laws,” said John Logan, professor and chairperson of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University.
William Gould, a former chairperson of the National Labor Relations Board during the Clinton administration and a professor emeritus at Stanford University, agreed: “In the courts the matter is a dead letter unless (the Supreme Court) shifts gears.”
That’s what the California and U.S. chambers of commerce, along with other business groups, are hoping, according to their amicus brief in support of the Trump administration’s lawsuit against California: “Under California’s view, every state could have its own labor law for private-sector workers. Dozens of laws would overlap and collide.”
The California Labor Federation, an umbrella organization for unions that represents about 2 million California workers, said in an amicus brief that even before Trump fired the NLRB chief, the federal agency’s backlog had been a problem, leading to companies being able to delay bargaining in good faith with their employees’ unions without consequences.
If the California law is overturned, employees who have formed unions but have not succeeded in securing contracts with employers such as Amazon and Starbucks — which are among the companies seeking to have the NLRB declared unconstitutional — may continue to face delays, according to Logan. Or, he said, it’s not clear what would happen if other workers tried to organize and their companies simply fired them.
“The NLRB defunctness is a scandal which cries out for political reform,” Gould said.
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Why now: As the clock struck midnight across time zones, people gathered to celebrate the new year.
Keep reading... for those photos.
As the clock strikes midnight across time zones, people gather to celebrate the new year.
We take a look at the shared joy and traditions in these photos.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Reveler use their smartphones to film the falling balloons and confetti as they celebrate the start of 2026 during the New Year countdown event held at a shopping mall in Beijing, early Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
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Revellers watch a fireworks and light show for children on Museumplein as part of New Year's Eve celebrations in Amsterdam on December 31, 2025.
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Members of the public gather to celebrate the New Year during the annual bell-tolling ceremony at the Bosingak Pavilion on January 01, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea.
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Fireworks explode over skyscrapers during New Year celebrations on January 01, 2026 in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.
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People buy batons that read happy New Year 2026 on December 31, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands lined the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok as the country welcomed the new year.
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Fireworks explode from the Taipei 101 building during the New Year's celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
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Revellers watch the New Year's Eve fireworks from the The Huc Bridge at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi on Jan. 1, 2026.
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People attend the New Year countdown event to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
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Fireworks explode around the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, during New Year's Eve celebrations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
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People pose for pictures near illuminated decorations on New Year's Eve in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
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Revellers watch fireworks during the New Year celebrations in Karachi on January 1, 2026.
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Iraqis gather in Baghdad's Al-Zawraa Park during New Year's Eve celebrations on December 31, 2025.
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Onlookers stand beside light ornaments on New Year's Eve at Bakrkoy Square in Istanbul on Dec. 31, 2025.
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People strike a giant bell to celebrate the New Year at the Zojoji Buddhist temple, minutes after midnight Thursday Jan. 1, 2026, in Tokyo.
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A couple takes a selfie as the last sunset of 2025 is seen over the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.
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People watch and take photos as the Ferris wheel displays "Happy New Year" in 16 different languages at Pacific Park on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Santa Monica.
Millions of Americans are facing higher health care premiums in the new year after Congress allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire.
Where things stand: Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators worked to strike a compromise that could resurrect the enhanced ACA premium tax credits — potentially blunting the blow of rising monthly payments for Obamacare enrollees.
What's next: Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who is part of that effort, says he thinks the Senate can pass a "retroactive" Affordable Care Act subsidy extension, but "we need President Trump."
Millions of Americans are facing higher health care premiums in the new year after Congress allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire. But earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators worked to strike a compromise that could resurrect the enhanced ACA premium tax credits — potentially blunting the blow of rising monthly payments for Obamacare enrollees.
"There's a number of Republican and Democratic senators who are seeing what a disaster this will be for families that they represent," Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said on Morning Edition Thursday. "That's the common ground here, and it's a doable thing."
Welch said he joined a bipartisan call Tuesday — first reported by Punchbowl News — in which a handful of senators charted out a possible health care compromise.
"We could extend the credits for a couple of years, we could reform it," Welch said of the call. "You could put an income cap, you could have a copay, you could have penalties on insurers who commit fraud. You actually could introduce some cost saving reductions that have bipartisan support."
But according to Welch, this legislation is only doable with President Trump's blessing.
"It would require that President Trump play a major role in this, because he has such influence over the Republican majority in the House and even in the Senate," Welch said.
Last fall, Republicans and Democrats fought bitterly over the Obamacare subsidy extension, causing a political standoff that led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Meanwhile, Trump has remained relatively hands-off, withholding his support for any health care legislation.
Despite these obstacles, Welch said he believes the jump in prices that people across the country now face will break the logjam in Congress.
"A farmer in Vermont, their premium is going to go from $900 a month to $3,200, a month," Welch said. "So they're going to really face sticker shock. There's going to be a secondary impact, because the hospitals, particularly in rural areas, are going to lose revenue."
But even if the Senate advanced a compromise bill on the ACA, the House would also have to get behind it. And the lower chamber has its own bipartisan effort on an ACA subsidy extension.
Just before the recess began in mid-December, four House Republicans joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition on a three-year extension of the ACA subsidies — forcing a floor vote on the bill when the House returns.
Hours after bucking House Speaker Mike Johnson and joining Democrats, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told Morning Editionback in December that he thinks this vote will get even more Republican support.
"I don't like the clean extension without any income cap," Fitzpatrick said. "But given the choice between a clean three-year extension and letting them expire, that's not a hard choice for me. And I suspect many of my other colleagues are going to view it the same way."
Fitzpatrick and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., have held meetings with moderate senators on legislative paths to extend the ACA subsidies, a source familiar with the talks but not authorized to speak publicly tells NPR.
The Senate returns on Jan. 5 and the House comes back to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.
