People are being urged to be aware of the symptoms of tuberculosis as World TB Day is marked today (Thursday 24 March, 2016).

TB is an infectious illness and can cause serious health problems - particularly if it is not caught early.

It is preventable and curable but still kills three people around the globe every minute worldwide, and so World TB Day aims to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of the disease.

They include having a cough for three weeks or more, weight loss, fever, night sweats, tiredness and a loss of appetite.

Anyone who is concerned they may have TB or have been exposed to it should seek medical help as soon as possible.

Ros Jervis, Wolverhampton's Director of Public Health, said: "Sadly TB is a disease which, despite being curable, continues to infect and kill people in much of the world.

"We have dedicated teams to diagnose and treat patients with TB, but we want to do even better and have recently formed the Black Country TB network to share good practice and to reduce the number of TB cases further by working together. 

"A new screening programme is also being developed to find and treat people with TB before they have symptoms or can infect others."

For more information, please visit the Stop TB Partnership Type=links;Linkid=7074;Title=website;Target=_blank;.

World TB Day is marked on 24 March, the day in 1882 on which Dr Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacteria that causes TB. His ground-breaking research opened the way toward diagnosing and curing the disease.

  • released: Thursday 24 March, 2016