Pandemic? New Deadly 'No Cure' Strain of TB is mutating and spreading

Tuberculosis is mutating into new strains of the disease. These new strains of the infection are resistant to any known treatment.

LONDON, England (Catholic Online) - In a startling turn of events, global reports indicate that Tuberculosis, once thought to be a remnant of a frightening past, increasingly controlled and rare, is making a comeback.

Worse yet, the types of TB infections which are on the increase indicate that Tuberculosis is mutating into new strains of the disease. These new strains of the infection are resistant to any known treatment.

One of those strains is XDR-TB.

The acronym stands for "extensively drug-resistant TB" and it has certainly earned its name. This deadly strain of TB does not respond to any of the antibiotics which heretofore have been used to treat the disease. The new strain now threatens to become a pandemic.

The WHO (World Health Organization) reports 40,000 new cases annually.

An Award-winning photojournalist named James Nachtwey has photographed the devastation reeked by this horrid disease and calls it a "a merciless, man-eating predator lurking in the shadows." He has dedicated his formidable talents to calling attention to the danger and the human suffering through his photographs. They are posted on XDR-TB.org.

The most susceptible to this killer disease are people whose immune systems are weakened such as those with HIV.

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