Humans have suffered from tuberculosis (TB) since ancient times and. TB has beenwas described in ancient texts from China about 2,300 years ago. Fragments of the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) - the causative agent of tuberculosis have been- were detected in a 3,300-year-old Egyptian mummy. The tuberculosis epidemic reached a peak in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th century, andwhen scientists started to focus more on tuberculosis pathogenesis.