It may come as a surprise to many Americans that tuberculosis is the second leading cause of death worldwide. TB, which was nearly under control in the mid-20th century, affects more than eight million people each year, killing two million of them. Only AIDS claims more victims.

To that end, researchers have been working to find new medicine that will be both effective in combating the disease and affordable for distribution in developing countries. In a surprising development, researchers have discovered that a drug originally earmarked as a treatment for inflammation, may be effectiving in treating TB.

The drug, known as R207910, is an antibiotic that appears to clear the lungs of the microbial strains, which are resistant to the current mode of treatment. TB patients are currently being treated with a combination of three different drugs that must be taken for up to nine months. The problem is that, once patients begin to feel better, many tend to discontinue taking the drugs and the disease returns.

Barry Bloom, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health pointed out, “The big problem in TB is not that we don’t have drugs, it’s that people are sick as hell and you give them drugs and after a month they feel good so they stop taking their drugs and they relapse.”

So far, R207910 has only been tested in mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. But, researchers are finding that the new drug will remain in the animals' lungs with concentrations ten times higher than in the bloodstream. The drug, which is being tested in combination with two of the three present drugs, appears to clear the lungs in only one month as opposed to two.

So far, only healthy humans have received the drug, but tests indicate that it does not cause them to be sick while taking it. Testing of R207910 on people infected with TB is expected to being 'very soon' according to Koen Andries a lead researcher at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development in Beerse, Belgium.

Tuberculosis has infected humans for thousands of years. In fact, anthropologists have discovered pathological signs of tubercular decay in mummied from 2400 BCE. In 1943 Selman A. Waksman discovered an effective antibiotic that was administered successfully to a infected paitent in November 1944. The drug stopped the progression of the disease and the patient recovered fully. However, over the years, the disease has mutated significantly, and researchers must constantly be evolving drugs and combinations that are effective against new strains.