What disease is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis?

What disease is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis? The answer is Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis, commonly called TB, is an infectious disease caused principally by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a slow-growing, rod-shaped bacterium that most often affects the lungs.

The bacterium spreads through the air when a person with active pulmonary TB coughs, speaks, or sneezes. Infection does not always produce immediate illness: latent TB can remain in the body without symptoms and may later become active, especially when immune defenses are weakened. Active disease can cause a persistent cough, fever, night sweats, fatigue, and weight loss.

Robert Koch identified the tuberculosis bacillus in 1882, a milestone in medical microbiology. M. tuberculosis has a waxy, lipid-rich cell envelope containing mycolic acids, which helps it resist staining and contributes to its durability and drug resistance. This is why laboratories commonly use acid-fast staining rather than an ordinary Gram stain. TB is not the same as cholera, leprosy, or pneumonia, although different microbes can cause those diseases.