Tuberculosis (also known as Tubercle bacillus, TB) is a life-threatening bacterial infection that mainly affects the lungs.
It kills nearly 2 million people a year worldwide. Approximately 32% of the global population are infected with TB; with new infections occurring every second.
A Graph to show the Global incidence of TB. Image courtesy of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TB_incidence.png. This image is in the public domain and is copyright free.
Despite years of research and advances in treatment, TB is still a global pandemic, enhanced by poverty, the spread of HIV/AIDS and the development of drug-resistant strains of the bacterium.
If tuberculosis is not treated it can be dangerous. However, most cases of TB are treatable if reported early, even those in which the bacterium is resistant to the drugs.
Banner image courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/timsnell/2347749472/ under a creative commons licence.