How does a person get infected with TB?
Like the germs that cause a cold or the flu, TB germs spread through the air. Only people who have TB disease have symptoms. They carry the TB germs in their lungs or their throat, and can spread the TB germs to other people. Coughing, sneezing, talking, and salivating by people who are infected spreads TB germs through the air. If another person inhales these germs, they can become infected with TB. Without treatment, a person who has TB disease will infect an average of 10 -15 people with TB every year. (Most of these people who become infected with TB will not get sick with the disease.
