Reducing the occupational risk of TB.

Tuberculosis, an infectious disease caused by the micro-organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis, has wrought devastation for centuries. According to estimates, in the 1800s alone, say estimates, it was responsible for almost one-third of the deaths in Europe. In the 20th century, the incidence of TB declined dramatically in developed countries, especially after the development of anti-TB drugs in the late 1940s. Yet in under-developed countries today, roughly one-third of the world's population is thought to be infected with the tubercle bacillus.