eria spread throughout the bloodstream. TB that affected the skin and face would cause a horrible condition called lupus. In the early stages, red marks and thickening of the nose would make the person appear wolflike. In the most severe form, the infected person’s nose, eyes, cheeks, and ears were partly destroyed and would make the person look like a living skull. Tuberculosis of the spine was also known as Pott’s disease and gibbus. This made hunchbacks very common as well as causing crippling of the hip joints, shoulders, and arm and leg bones. Serious cases of diarrhea can cause TB in the intestines. In some patients, TB would destroy their voice box, so they could only talk in a low whisper, and even that was painful.TB does not only affect humans. Cows are affected by a disease known as bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis, which was more common long ago. If the cow’s udder got affected, so would the milk, passing the TB on to the humans who drank it. The process of pasteurization later eliminated this. Rats and mice have been found to be affected by a form called vole bacillus. Birds and poultry are affected by avian bacillus, another form of TB, which is also common in many AIDS patients.Years and years of research by doctors and scientists only added up to a little progress against TB. At the time, one person in seven was dying from tuberculosis. All this changed when in 1882, Robert Koch, a young German doctor made the announcement that tuberculosis was caused by a bacterium. While performing many experiments with TB germs, he found the tiny rod-shaped bacteria. He called them tubercle bacilli. Eight years after his announcement, Koch thought he had found a cure for tuberculosis- tuberculin, a glycerin extract of tubercle bacilli. This discovery did not cure patients; some even died from it. Many attempts were made to develop a cure, including many unsuccessful surgeries. Doc...
