Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease caused by bacteria. TB usually affects the lungs but can affect any part of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB disease coughs, sneezes, talks or sings. TB is preventable and curable.

TB disease

TB disease is not easy to catch. Close, regular or prolonged contact with someone with TB disease in the lungs or airway is needed to spread the disease. It is spread through the air when someone with TB disease coughs, sneezes, sings or talks. Symptoms of TB disease can include: a cough that lasts more than 2 weeks, coughing up blood, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, fever and fatigue. TB is not spread by sharing utensils, cups, clothing, bed linen, furniture, toilets, shaking hands or by touching surfaces that someone with TB disease has touched.

People who have TB in another part of the body (e.g. lymph nodes, spine, brain, etc.) cannot spread TB germs to others. See “TB Outside the Body” below.

TB infection

TB infection is when someone has breathed in TB germs, but their immune system has trapped the germs; they are not contagious. This is often the case when someone with a healthy immune system is exposed to someone with TB disease. The TB bacteria live in the body, but they are in a dormant “sleeping” state. People with TB infection do not have any symptoms. Individuals with TB infection usually have a positive reaction to a TB skin test. About 5-10% of people with TB infection will develop TB disease at some point in their life.

TB Outside of the Lungs

TB usually affects the lungs, but it can affect the entire body. Some areas of the body that can be affected include bones, lymph nodes, kidneys, stomach, spine and brain. When this happens, it is called extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB outside of the lungs). People with extrapulmonary tuberculosis cannot give TB to others.