TUBERCULOSIS Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease usually affecting the lungs (pulmonaryTB) caused by organisms in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, and M. africanum). Other parts of the body (extrapulmonary TB) also may be affected (e.g., brain, lymph nodes,kidneys, bones, joints, larynx, intestines, eyes). Systemic symptoms include low-grade fever, night sweats, fatigue, and weight loss. In pulmonary orlaryngeal TB, there also may be hemoptysis, a persistent and productive cough, chest pain, and shortness of breath. Transmission generally occurswhen a susceptible person inhales airborne infectious droplet nuclei from the cough or sneeze of an infectious person. Laboratory Confirmation by one of the following methods: • Isolation of M. tuberculosis or M. tuberculosis complex organisms from aclinical specimen, OR • Demonstration of M. tuberculosis from a clinical specimen by nucleicacid amplification test, OR • Demonstration of acid-fast bacilli in a clinical specimen when a culturehas not been or cannot be obtained. This criterion has most commonly been used to diagnose tuberculosis in the post mortem setting.