tuberculosis

tu·ber·cu·lo·sis

noun \t(y)u̇-ˌbər-kyə-ˈlō-səs\

plural tu·ber·cu·lo·ses \-ˌsēz\

Definition of TUBERCULOSIS

: a usually chronic highly variable disease that is caused by a bacterium of the genus Mycobacterium (M. tuberculosis) and rarely in the United States by a related mycobacterium (M. bovis), is usually communicated by inhalation of the airborne causative agent, affects especially the lungs but may spread to other areas (as the kidney or spinal column) from local lesions or by way of the lymph or blood vessels, and is characterized by fever, cough, difficulty in breathing, inflammatory infiltrations, formation of tubercles, caseation, pleural effusion, and fibrosis—called also TB