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24 March 2012 World TB Day raises awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease. One-third of the world's population is currently infected with TB. he Stop TB Partnership, a network of organizations and countries fighting TB, organizes the Day to highlight the scope of the disease and how to prevent and cure it. he annual event on 24 March marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch detected the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. his was a first step towards diagnosing and curing tuberculosis. WHO is working to cut TB prevalence rates and deaths by half by 2015.

What is tuberculosis?

uberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria whose scientific name is Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It was first isolated in 1882 by a German physician named Robert Koch who received the Nobel Prize for this discovery. TB most commonly affects the lungs but also can involve almost any organ of the body. Many years ago, this disease was referred to as "consumption" because without effective treatment, these patients often would waste away. Today, of course, tuberculosis usually can be treated successfully with antibiotics.

How does a person get TB?

A person can become infected with tuberculosis bacteria when he or she inhales minute particles of infected sputum from the air. he bacteria get into the air when someone who has a tuberculosis lung infection coughs, sneezes, shouts, or spits (which is common in some cultures). People who are nearby can then possibly breathe the bacteria into their lungs. You don't get TB by just touching the clothes or shaking the hands of someone who is infected. uberculosis is spread (transmitted) primarily from person to person by breathing infected air during close contact. here is a form of atypical tuberculosis, however, that is transmitted by drinking unpasteurized milk. Related bacteria, called Mycobacterium bovis, cause this form of TB. Previously, this type of bacteria was a major cause of TB in children, but it rarely causes TB now since most milk is pasteurized (undergoes a heating process that kills the bacteria)

How common is TB, and who gets it? Over 8 million new cases of TB occur each year worldwide. In the United States, it is estimated that 10-15 million people are infected with the TB bacteria, and 22,000 new cases of TB occur each year. Anyone can get TB, but certain people are at higher risk, including

people who live with individuals who have an active TB infection, poor or homeless people, foreign-born people from countries that have a high prevalence of TB, nursing-home residents and prison inmates, alcoholics and intravenous drug users , people with diabetes, certain cancers, and HIV infection (the AIDS virus), health-care workers.

There is no strong evidence for a genetically determined (inherited) susceptibility for TB.