Kansas is currently experiencing a rare outbreak of tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease. TB is spread via germs in the air and usually affects the lungs but can also affect the brain, the kidneys or the spine.

An outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City area has grown into one of the largest ever recorded in the United States, with dozens of active cases of the infectious disease reported, according to health officials.

A tuberculosis outbreak started over a year ago in the Kansas City area, but it's now drawing national attention.

A yearlong outbreak of tuberculosis in the Kansas City, Kansas area has taken local experts aback, even if it does not appear to be the largest outbreak of the disease in U.S. history as a state health official claimed last week.

We would expect to see a handful of cases every year,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Kansas Health System. But the high case counts in this outbreak were a “stark warning,

A tuberculosis outbreak that began a year ago in two counties in the Kansas City, Kan., area has caused 67 active cases and 79 latent cases of the disease. Two deaths have been reported. But public health officials say the risk to the public remains low.