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The menace of tuberculosis

The Ebola virus is rapidly spreading across Africa, which is unprepared to tackle the deadly disease. Africa must be on red alert to tackle this deadly outbreak.

Tuberculosis is once again rampaging throughout the world. Nine million people a year contract the airborne bug, while a further two million die from it. One quarter of HIV/AIDS fatalities actually die from TB.

The disease mainly impacts the third world, with Asia in particular China and India, having the most cases. However, it is Africa where the death toll is highest.

The most alarming feature of the ever-evolving bug is the emergence of drug-resistant TB. TB is a chronic or acute contagious disease caused by a bacterial infection. The world today is a crucible of bacterial opportunism. A rise in “virtually untreatable” tuberculosis poses a dire global threat. The case of drug resistant TB are exponentially rising, while many first choice anti-biotic are no longer effective against several strains of the TB bacterium. Today an even more aggressive strain of TB, called extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, which is resistant to even more types of anti-biotic has been detected across 84 countries.

The danger posed by growing resistance to anti-biotic is as big a risk as terrorism or nuclear war. The global epidemic is growing and becoming more dangerous.