Volusia County, FL - The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) in Volusia County is joining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in recognizing 'World TB Day,' March 24.
World TB day commemorates the discovery of the bacteria that caused tuberculosis (TB) and this year's theme is "United to End TB." Eliminating tuberculosis in Florida remains a priority for the department.
According to the FDOH-Volusia County, TB is 1 of the world's deadliest diseases, caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis that usually attacks the lungs, but can attack any part of the body, including the kidney, spine and brain. Latent TB can live within the body without making you sick. People with latent TB do not have any symptoms, are not infectious and cannot make others sick.
TB is spread through the air and symptoms of the disease include:
The FDOH and its statewide TB program along with the Florida System of Tuberculosis Care are making strides toward eliminating TB in the state. Cases of TB in Florida have gone down by 35% from 988 cases in 2007 to 639 in 2017.
Find more information about TB here.
Visit the CDC's World TB Day page here.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
