Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (commonly shortened to TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints.

Tuberculosis is one of the most deadly and common major infectious diseases today, infecting, as of 2004, 14.6 million people.[1] Nine million new cases of the disease, resulting in two million deaths, occur annually, mostly in developing countries. However, developed countries are not spared the burden of tuberculosis. There is a rising number of people in the developed world who contract tuberculosis because they have compromised immune systems, typically as a result of immunosupressive drugs or HIV/AIDS. These people are at particular risk of tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis disease.

More

http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Diseases_and_Conditions/Tuberculosis/

http://www.apha.org/public_health/tuberc.htm

http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/tuberculosis.html

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tuberculosis.html