Tuberculosis
March 24 th was World TB Day, this commemorated the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced the cause of tuberculosis (TB). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of mycobacterium tuberculosis, proving TB disease is caused by a microbe and not by heredity as was previously believed. TB is an ancient disease; evidence of the disease is seen in skeletal remains more than 8,000 years old. Tuberculosis is spread in the air; it is not easy to catch and usually requires repeat exposures to cause disease in others. Most cases of active TB infect the lungs, but it can infect other parts of the body like the lymph nodes, spine, or brain. The good news is that TB is both preventable and curable. When a person breaths the TB bacteria into their body the immune system often stops the infection from spreading. This person will have a positive TB test result, but will not feel sick. They do not have any symptoms of disease, are not contagious, and will have a normal ch