Before COVID, TB Was the World’s Worst Pathogen. It’s Still a ‘Monster’ Killer

February 14, 2022

(NPR) – Until the emergence of COVID-19, tuberculosis was the deadliest infectious disease in the world. How did it evolve from a terrible disease to a largely controlled one to the horrific plague it is now? That’s the question that science journalist Vidya Krishnan explores in her new book, Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History, released this month. It traces the spread of TB from the U.S. and Europe in the 19th century to lower-income countries — including Krishnan’s country of India — where it continues to flourish today. (Read More)