Tuberculosis Elimination and Laboratory Cooperative Agreement | CDC RFA PS20 2001

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA PS20 2001

The Tuberculosis Elimination and Laboratory Cooperative Agreement (Funding Opportunity Number CDC RFA PS20-2001) is a CDC discretionary cooperative agreement meant to strengthen and modernize the public health response to tuberculosis (TB) in the United States. It builds on decades of CDC support for state and local TB programs and recognizes that, even though U.S. TB case counts have reached historic lows, the country is not on pace to eliminate TB with current approaches alone. The central message of the opportunity is that TB elimination will require not only finding and curing active TB disease, but also expanding efforts to identify and treat latent TB infection (LTBI) among people at highest risk, so infection does not later progress to contagious disease.

The opportunity is grounded in the continued public health importance of TB. TB spreads through the air and remains one of the leading infectious killers worldwide. The notice cites global 2017 estimates of 10.0 million people becoming sick with TB disease and 1.3 million TB-related deaths, with TB described as the leading killer of people living with HIV. In the United States, 9,105 TB cases were reported in 2017 (2.8 per 100,000), representing a small decline from 2016 and the lowest number ever recorded nationally. Despite this progress, CDC emphasizes that elimination will not happen this century without shifting more attention to preventing future cases through LTBI testing and treatment. CDC estimates up to 13.0 million people in the U.S. have LTBI, and the notice highlights that more than 80 percent of U.S. TB cases stem from longstanding, untreated LTBI rather than recent transmission, meaning prevention-focused strategies are essential.

A major theme of the grant is targeting resources where risk is highest and where TB burden is concentrated. The notice describes how TB disproportionately affects specific populations, including people who are non-U.S.-born; people living with HIV infection or diabetes; people experiencing homelessness; people who are incarcerated; and people who use illicit substances. It points out that, in 2017, the TB incidence rate among non-U.S.-born persons was about 15 times higher than among U.S.-born persons, and that the share of U.S. cases occurring in non-U.S.-born persons has continued to rise, reaching 70.1 percent in 2017. The cooperative agreement reinforces an approach centered on high-risk groups, combining the traditional responsibilities of TB prevention and control with a more deliberate, targeted strategy to find and treat LTBI in populations most likely to progress to disease.

Programmatically, the cooperative agreement supports two tightly linked areas of work: TB prevention and control activities and TB laboratory activities. While the notice does not list every required activity in the excerpt provided, its purpose is clear: recipients are expected to sustain and improve the systems that identify people with active TB disease, ensure they are treated successfully, and interrupt transmission, while also implementing targeted testing and treatment for LTBI to prevent future cases. The laboratory component is included because rapid, accurate TB testing underpins diagnosis, drug-resistance detection, and public health decision-making, and strong coordination between program and laboratory functions is necessary for effective TB control and elimination.

The funding is structured as a cooperative agreement, which generally means CDC will have substantial involvement beyond simply issuing funds, such as providing technical assistance, guidance, and collaboration on implementation. The primary responsibility for developing and carrying out TB program and laboratory work remains with state and local health departments, and the funding is explicitly described as complementary to their work. A key condition is that these federal funds are not meant to replace or reduce state and local investments in TB control responsibilities. The notice explicitly mentions examples of costs and responsibilities that should remain supported locally, such as providing medications, inpatient care, and maintaining health department facilities.

Eligibility is geared toward public health agencies and jurisdictions that are positioned to run TB programs at scale. Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, and city or township governments, with additional eligible entities possible as described in the full announcement. The administering agency is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), specifically within NCHHSTP. The CFDA number listed is 93.116. The opportunity anticipated 61 awards. The posted award ceiling is listed as 0, which typically signals that the ceiling was not specified in the summary field and applicants would need to consult the full notice for funding ranges, formulas, or jurisdiction-based allocations.

Key dates in the notice indicate it was created on July 5, 2019, with an original closing date of September 5, 2019, and electronic applications due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline date. Overall, the cooperative agreement is designed to push the U.S. TB response beyond incremental declines in case counts by pairing strong treatment and case management for active TB with a more aggressive, data-driven approach to finding and treating latent infection in high-risk populations, supported by capable public health laboratories and coordinated state and local infrastructure.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - NCHHSTP in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tuberculosis Elimination and Laboratory Cooperative Agreement" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.116.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 05, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 05, 2019 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 61 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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