Tuberculosis is the leading infectious killer of adults.
TB causes 26 percent of avoidable adult deaths in the developing world. TB is becoming the leading cause of death among HIVpositive people. Nearly 300,000 children will die of TB this year. One third of the world's population is already infected with the TB bacillus. Left untreated, one person with active TB will infect 10 to 15 people in a year's time.