Drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis are moving throughout Europe at a terrifying speed, reports Reuters.
According to the WHO, European authorities must move quickly to control the pandemic or risk thousands of deaths being caused by the bacteria-borne disease.
Traditionally, Eastern Europe and Central Asia are the most TB affected regions of the globe. However, the disease is spreading west. London, for example, has over 3,500 cases diagnosed a year. That's the most of any city in the Western Hemisphere.
Drug-resistant forms of TB usually kill about 50 percent of sufferers. The rate is much lower for ordinary strains of the disease but treatment can be lengthy and extremely costly.
At the moment, the WHO are planning to implement a plan to follow up on patients with TB-like symptoms and ensure they are taking medication when the disease has been diagnosed to prevent further spreading.
This will be a costly process, but it could save 120,000 lives before 2015.
To read more from Reuters click here>
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