We are starting to understand why the bacteria behind tuberculosis is so good at infecting people
Adobe Stock/Ryan Wills
When reflecting on the annals of infectious diseases, it’s the explosive pandemics that often capture our attention. Cholera and plague instill fear with their rapid decimation of cities and the widespread havoc they wreak upon entire nations, overshadowing the insidious toll taken by subtler diseases.
Arguably, no disease has inflicted more clandestine devastation than tuberculosis. Stealthily spreading from person to person, gradually claiming lives over years, Mycobacterium tuberculosis has amassed a greater cumulative toll than any more sensational pathogen.
And its reign of terror persists. While smallpox was vanquished in the 1970s and plague now claims few lives, tuberculosis continues its deadly march. Approximately a quarter of the global population has been infected with M. tuberculosis. In 2023 alone, tuberculosis claimed 1.2 million lives – double the fatalities attributed to HIV or malaria.
“The persistence of TB in causing illness and death at such a scale is a travesty, especially when we possess the means to prevent, detect, and treat it,” lamented the World Health Organization’s Tedros Ghebreyesus in 2024.
Aside from the lack of political resolve, another factor contributes to TB’s efficacy – the microbe itself. M. tuberculosis has evolved into a remarkably adept human pathogen, with one of its standout abilities being airborne transmission.
The Quest for TB’s Origin
The search for…
