Holiday Ayo - The World Health Organization (WHO) said there were 8 million new cases reported as Tuberculosis (TB) became the world's deadliest infectious disease.

Of that number, 1.25 million people died of TB, meaning that the disease is once again the leading cause of death from infectious diseases after COVID-19 displaced it during the pandemic.

"The fact that TB is still killing and sickening so many people is outrageous, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"WHO urges all countries to build on the concrete commitments they have made to expand the use of these tools, and to end TB," he continued.

Several countries in Asia are seriously affected by this disease. India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan account for more than half of the world's TB cases.

According to reports, 55 percent of people with TB are men, while 33 percent are women and 12 percent are children and young teenagers.

Many new TB cases are motivated by five main risk factors: malnutrition, HIV infection, alcohol use disorders, smoking (especially among men) and diabetes.

Tuberculosis is caused by airborne bacteria which mostly attack the lungs. Roughly a quarter of the global population is estimated to have TB but only about 5% to 10% of them complain of symptoms.

People with TB infection often do not feel sick and are not contagious. Only a small proportion of people infected with TB will experience symptoms, with babies and children at higher risk.

"TB symptoms may be mild for months, making it easy to spread the disease to others without realizing it," notes WHO.