Ancestry

How ancestry influences this condition

Although cystic fibrosis occurs in all races, it is most common in white people of Northern European ancestry.

Genetic testing will identify about 85 to 90% of carriers in the Caucasian population. For other ethnic groups, the detection rates and carrier frequencies vary.

Ancestry and Risk

If no one in your family has cystic fibrosis, your chance of being a carrier depends on your ancestry:

Non-Hispanic white

1 in 25 (4%)

Ashkenazi Jews

1 in 24 (4%)

Hispanic white

1 in 58 (2%)

Asian-American

1 in 61 (2%)

African-American

1 in 94 (1%)

Other/Mixed race

No specific data is available.