Years of budget cuts and staffing shortages have left the New York City Department of Health too hobbled to contain a sharp rise in local cases of tuberculosis (TB), according to a bombshell new report.

TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and there have been about 500 NYC cases of active TB so far in 2023.

That’s an increase of about 20 percent over the same time last year base, according to “internal preliminary data” reported by Politico, and the rise makes 2023 the worst year for TB infections in a decade.

“This is definitely a more dramatic resurgence than we would have probably expected,” said Elizabeth Lovinger of Treatment Action Group, a NYC public health advocacy group. “When there are particularly high spikes in TB and other infectious diseases in New York City, that tends to be kind of a bellwether for the rest of the country.”

The spike in NYC cases is also attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic — and vaccine fatigue — hindering efforts to diagnose and treat cases, and the crisis spurred by the arrival of over 100,000 migrants to the city since spring 2022, who are at a heightened risk of developing an active tuberculosis infection.

Meanwhile, TB cases have recently been reported in Olathe, Kan., and Brockton, Mass. Last month, the United Nations held a high-level meeting to discuss strategies to control the global spread of tuberculosis.

Despite the alarming new data, NYC Health Department spokesperson Patrick Gallahue told The Post, “This city is a leader in TB care.”

Cases of the flu, TB and other infectious diseases dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, as public health efforts kept people masked or isolated at home.

“During the pandemic … COVID-19 prevention efforts reduced tuberculosis cases,” Dr. Carlos Franco-Paredes, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, wrote in The Conversation.

“But tuberculosis numbers have quickly climbed back up to pre-pandemic levels, marking the first time in decades that cases and deaths have risen globally,” he added.

And New York City is woefully unprepared for a widespread tuberculosis outbreak.

Long waits of up to a week for testing and treatment are the norm at the city’s three TB clinics, according to employees of the NYC Department of Health’s Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, who spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to comment on the issue.

And the longer an infected person waits for treatment, their harder their disease is to treat — and it’s more likely their infection will spread to others.

Long waits of up to a week for testing and treatment are the norm at the city’s three TB clinics, according to employees of the NYC Department of Health’s Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, who spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to comment on the issue.

A TB clinic in Washington Heights — one of four NYC-run clinics that offer free testing and care for TB, and the only TB clinic in Manhattan.— was recently closed for renovation.

The Washington Heights clinic was closed to TB patients because it was needed to assist in the COVID-19 response. It might be renovated or upgraded at some point in the future, according to NYC Health Department spokesperson Patrick Gallahue.

“We have pioneered treatments and therapies in New York City,” Gallahue told The Post. “We also launched a new latent tuberculosis infection provider outreach campaign to increase screening, diagnosis, and treatment among at-risk New Yorkers.

“Additionally, we have a contract with a local provider that is worth up to $500,000 to ensure that New Yorkers receive care and that we have additional capacity in-place should anyone need services,” Gallahue added.

But the problem has been exacerbated by the arrival of over 100,000 migrants to New York City since 2022.

Migrants have an increased risk of developing a TB infection because they are often housed or moved in crowded, poorly-ventilated settings in which the disease spreads easily.

And experts are concerned that matters could get worse as the weather turns cold and people huddle indoors, helping to spread TB and other respiratory illnesses like the flu, RSV and COVID-19.