The 'white plague', known as consumption and the robber of youth, is on the rise in the US, reclaiming its title as the world’s deadliest infectious disease in 2023. This comes after it was briefly overtaken by COVID-19 during the pandemic. In 2025, provisional data from the CDC shows that 10,260 cases were reported nationwide, including 967 in New York alone. The real toll could be even higher as TB symptoms are often mistaken for other common illnesses like the flu or RSV, which can cause missed or delayed treatment. The disease is preventable and with proper treatment, many people are cured. In the US alone, up to 13 million people are living with latent TB, and over 80% of TB cases are due to longstanding, untreated latent infections becoming active. The symptoms of active TB vary depending on where the bacteria are growing in the body.