Tuberculosis (TB) is a potentially serious infectious disease caused by a type of bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually affect the lungs, but also can invade other organs.
In 2018, tuberculosis bacteria infected 1.7 billion people – roughly 23% of the world’s population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2020, the CDC reported 7,174 TB cases and 13 million people living with a latent tuberculosis infection (the germs are in the body but do not cause sickness) in the United States.
