Earlier this month, health officials in Los Angeles confirmed they are treating a patient for extensively drug resistant tuberculosis — a deadly form that does not respond to most of the antibiotics. The United States is one of 100 countries that have reported cases of “XDR-TB” since it was discovered in South Africa less than a decade ago.
Congress is holding public briefings Tuesday and Wednesday to look into the threat posed by tuberculosis, seeking expert recommendations to help develop a U.S. response. To be effective, public health efforts must adapt to the ways TB is evolving.
Tuberculosis is often described as an “ancient” malady, evident in Egyptian mummies. But today’s tuberculosis epidemic, which kills around 1.3 million people a year, is unlike its predecessors genetically, clinically and epidemiologically. Defeating TB 2.0 will require innovative approaches designed to fight this modern epidemic.
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