TB is the #1 killer among infectious diseases. A new study says its toll could mount

“As long as you breathe, you are at risk anywhere in the world,” says physician Lucicia Ditiu.

The risk she’s referring to is catching tuberculosis. While it may seem like a disease from the past, this airborne illness kills more people than any other infectious disease worldwide, roughly 1.2 million a year. That number could increase dramatically because of the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign assistance, according to a new study co-authored by Ditiu .

As many as 10 million additional people could get TB, and 2.2 million could die by 2030 in high-burden countries under the worst-case funding scenario over the next five years, researchers report in the journal PLOS Global Public Health . Even if funding is fully restored in a matter of months — a scenario that seems unlik