Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that many people thought was eradicated, but in fact cases in Pima County have doubled over the past 3 years. Now doctors and health professionals want people to know that T.B. is a serious concern.

Experts say Arizona has the 10^th-highest tuberculosis rate in the United States. The disease can be deadly, but by getting the word out those at-risk can receive the proper treatment and care. Pima County has about 40 T.B. cases a year, due mainly to the large homeless population and the influx of immigrants from places with inadequate healthcare. Latinos make up the majority of Arizonans suffering from the disease.  

Former T.B. patient Diana Jacobson-Williams found out she had the disease about 30 years ago when she came to the U.S. from Mexico. “I was somewhat active, but I was always feeling tired and I did contract a lot of bronchitis quite a bit,” she said. “It’s something that you have to take seriously. You can’t just put it off and say manana, you know. It’s gotta be today. Now.” Jacobson-Williams speaks with a sense of urgency because T.B. kills nearly 2 million people a year worldwide.

A man with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis who was once confined to a Phoenix jail ward has been indicted on felony charges. Prosecutors charged Robert Daniels with unlawful introduction of disease or parasite for refusing to wear a protective mask in public.

Basic tuberculosis can be treated and cured with about $20 worth of drugs. But health experts say under-funding and incomplete treatment of basic T.B. has created new drug-resistant strains that cause many of the problems we’re seeing now.