Tuberculosis Summary Tuberculosis is the single communicable disease responsible for the maximum number of deaths around the world. The official claim, thought to be conservative, is that there is a pool of 300,000 infected people in Mumbai. The epidemiology of the newly evolved multi-drug resistant strain for Mumbai is not available. In 1882 Robert Koch isolated Mycobacterium Tuberculosis as the causative agent of the disease.
Sunlight is effective in killing the bacterium.
Wide differences in virulence between different strains of the pathogen suggests a long co-evolution between humans and the disease. Epidemiology Statistical surveys in many parts of the world over many years of this century strongly indicate that social aspects are important in controlling the spread of Tuberculosis. Between 1955 and 1958 a large scale National Sample Survey was carried out all over India to document the epidemiology. It was found that urban and rural populations were equally at risk. About a quarter of the infected people found in the survey had a history of other members of the households also infected.