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Tuberculosis (TB) news, resources and funding for global health researchers

A major cause of death and disability worldwide, tuberculosis is a contagious lung disease that spreads through the air when people infected with it cough, sneeze, talk or spit. TB is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which usually attacks the lungs, but can affect other parts of the body like the kidney, spine and brain. The disease can be fatal if not treated properly.

According to the World Health Organization, there are almost 2 million TB-related deaths each year, and more than 9 million people around the world become sick with the disease annually. In 2009, almost 10 million children were orphaned as a result of parental deaths caused by TB. The spread of multidrug-resistant TB is a growing global threat, with hundreds of thousands of new cases emerging each year.

TB coinfection with HIV/AIDS is also a serious health issue and a leading cause of death worldwide among people with HIV. Several NIH research and research training programs are helping to reduce the impact of tuberculosis both in the U.S. and overseas.

Grant Awards Related to TB

• View a list of Fogarty grant awards related to tuberculosis (TB).

Top News

• World TB Day 2021 - The clock is ticking
  NIAID Now blog, March 24, 2021
• Grantee studies nanotechnology to help eradicate tuberculosis
  Q and A with Dr Admire Dube
  Nov / Dec 2020 Global Health Matters
• Landmark [international] TB trial identifies shorter-course treatment regimen
  NIAID/NIH news, October 21, 2020
• Profile: Fogarty fellow Dr Mark Brady’s tuberculosis training in Peru useful in combatting COVID-19
  Jul / Aug 2020 Global Health Matters
• New research tool supports scale-up of digital technologies to end TB
  TDR news, March 24, 2020
• Recent advances in addressing tuberculosis give hope for future
  NIAID/NIH news, February 11, 2020
• FDA approves new treatment for highly drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis
  TB Alliance news, August 14, 2019
• NIH launches large TB prevention trial [at more than 27 sites in at least 12 countries] for people exposed to multidrug-resistant TB
  NIAID/NIH news, June 25, 2019
• Opinion: Ending tuberculosis: we can get there with a new roadmap by Drs. Robert W. Eisinger and Anthony S. Fauci of NIAID/NIH
  STAT, March 24, 2019
• NIH study examines how pregnancy affects drugs for HIV and TB in people living with HIV
  NIAID Now blog, January 23, 2019
• Temperature-stable experimental tuberculosis vaccine enters clinical testing
  NIAID/NIH news, January 23, 2019
• NIH releases strategic plan to address tuberculosis research
  NIAID/NIH news, September 26, 2018
• NIH experts call for transformative research approach to end tuberculosis
  NIAID/NIH news, March 9, 2018
• The impact of a Fogarty International Center-supported tuberculosis research training program in the country of Georgia
  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, February 5, 2018

NIH News and Resources

• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) tuberculosis (TB) topic page
• National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus tuberculosis topic page

Other US Government Resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tuberculosis (TB) topic page
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) TB and HIV coinfection
• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on tuberculosis

Other Online Resources

• World Health Organization (WHO)
• WHO tuberculosis topic page
• WHO tuberculosis fact sheet
• WHO tuberculosis and HIV
• WHO Global Tuberculosis Report
• World Bank: Tuberculosis control
• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Updated March 2021