Bioinformatics into TB surveillance: A new approach to an ancient foe

Bioinformatics into TB surveillance: A new approach to an ancient foe David Ussery, a Professor in the Department of BioMedical Informatics at UAMS, and his Ph.D. student Brian Delavan discuss bioinformatics into TB surveillance, presenting a new approach to tackling this ancient foe. Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient disease, with evidence of TB infections dating back over 4,000 years, from TB infections in Neolithic Italy and Denmark. (1) TB is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and is transmitted via saliva droplets of an infected person. TB remains a public health threat. In 2019, an estimated 10 million people were infected worldwide, with approximately 1.2 million deaths. (2) TB was declared a global emergency in 2018 by the United Nations. (3)