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TB comes to a sticky beginning

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Although the tuberculosis bacterium is most renowned for its ability to cause pulmonary infection, the bacilli colonize many sites in the body in addition to the lungs. The recent identification of a key player in the dissemination of infection sheds light on the route by which tuberculosis spreads from the lungs and opens the way to assessing the significance of dissemination to the course of disease.

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Figure 1: Possible mechanisms by which inhaled M. tuberculosis might establish an infection in the lung and spread to extrapulmonary sites.

Stephen Horwitz

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology College of Veterinary Medicine Cornell University,

    David G. Russell

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  1. David G. Russell
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Russell, D. TB comes to a sticky beginning. Nat Med 7, 894–895 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/90926

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