Reichler MR, et al. - In order to establish the risk and timing of tuberculosis (TB) among recently exposed close contacts of patients with infectious TB, researchers prospectively enrolled culture-confirmed pulmonary TB patients ≥15 years of age and their close contacts at nine health departments in the United States and Canada. High rates of TB were noted in close contacts to infectious TB patients, with most disease diagnosed before or within 3 months after index patient diagnosis. They emphasize on prompt contact investigations to detect TB and maximize the opportunity to identify and treat latent infection in order to prevent disease.