Letter from the Editor

Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient illness caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. By rights – as a bacterial disease that is curable with a 6-month course of antibiotics – it should belong to the past. However, over 9 million people still develop active TB each year, and nearly 2 million die of the disease. Nearly a third of the world’s population harbours latent TB infection, which can emerge at any time as an airborne and transmittable disease. Reducing this human reservoir of infection will require many years of untiring effort, more effective tools and many more resources than are available today.