Tuberculosis is one of many widespread infectious diseases that plague the human family

at an alarming rate. The history of this disease can be traced back to ancient history and the

earliest, clear representation of the disease date back to 20,000 years ago. Tuberculosis is caused

by various strains of mycobacteria, but the most common causation of tuberculosis if

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Lawn and Zumla, 2011, p. 59). Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a

intracellular pathogen that can infect animals and plant species; however, the human body is the

principal and chief host, in which it begins to grow once it attaches itself to a hot (Lawn and

Zumla, 2011, p. 59). Mycobacterium tuberculosis is small, aerobic, immobile bacillus that has a

unique wax coating and is very lipid rich, as well as contains a lipid rich cell wall that makes it

impermeable to basic dyes (Lawn and Zumla, 2011, p. 60). Mycobacterium tuberculosis has a

slow divide time, in which the bacteria divide every fifteen to twenty hours, making the therapy

and treatment for tuberculosis very long and difficult to achieve (Lawn and Zumla, 2011, p. 60).

Furthermore, the bacterium is aerobic and requires a significant amount of oxygen to survive and

attacks the respiratory system of the host, mainly the lungs (Lawn and Zumla, 2011).

Tuberculosis is transmitted person to person through the air, in which if a person with

tuberculosis coughs or sneezes, the tuberculosis bacteria is spread within the air, and once the

bacteria is inhaled, a person is affected (Cole and Cook, 1998). Most cases of tuberculosis are

in Africa and Asia and primarily in developing countries with little access to health care (Lawn

and Zumla, 2011, p. 57). Tuberculosis is the second cause of death from an infectious disease

after HIV, and has only experience a 1 percent in mortality decline since 2005, which is mainly

due to the increasing world population (Mandell, 2009). Tuberculosis is often referred to as a

disease that is poverty stricken, due to the disease being associated with areas that are unsanitary,

overcrowded, and has lack of nutrition (Lawn and Zumla, 2011, p. 59). Tuberculosis is the
leading killer of people who are infected with HIV, in which people who are HIV positive are 20

times more prone to be infected with tuberculosis than others (Lawn and Zumla, 2011, p. 59).

Also, other risk factors include, intravenous drug users, smokers, alcoholism, and other ailments

such as diabetes make people more prone to having tuberculosis than others (Lawn and Zumla,

2011, p.59).