MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Kate Kelland – “LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (TB) are spreading at an alarming rate in Europe and will kill thousands unless health authorities halt the pandemic, the World Health Organisation(WHO) said on Wednesday.

Launching a new regional plan to find, diagnose and treat cases of the airborne infectious disease more effectively, the WHO’s European director warned that complacency had allowed a resurgence of TB and failure to tackle it now would mean huge human and economic costs in the future.

‘TB is an old disease that never went away, and now it is evolving with a vengeance,’ said Zsuzsanna Jakab, the WHO’s Regional Director for Europe.

‘The numbers are scary,’ Lucica Ditiu, executive secretary of the Stop TB Partnership told a news conference in London. ‘This is a very dramatic situation.'” Read more.