Warning over increase in TB cases
The Health Protection Agency has issued a warning after Yorkshire saw the second highest increase of new cases of tuberculosis in the country.
Nationally there was a five per cent rise and in Yorkshire the number increased from 591 in 2005 to 719 in 2009.
The South-East saw the most new cases of the infection, at 257, and Wales and the South-West saw the highest percentage increases. Cases in Wales rose by nearly a third.
A TB expert at the agency's centre for infections, Ibrahim Abubakar, said the disease was preventable but could be fatal if prompt diagnosis and treatment were not given.