Suspected tuberculosis outbreak at Ecuador prison kills 10 inmates

Ecuador’s prison authority said on Wednesday that 10 inmates at the Litoral prison in the capital Guayaquil were found dead between Monday and Tuesday, possibly from tuberculosis.

“Apparently the cause of death is tuberculosis. We are waiting for forensic results for an official determination,” the agency said.

Tuberculosis killed 1.23 million last year: WHO

Tuberculosis remains the world’s leading infectious killer, claiming an estimated 1.23 million lives last year. Pakistan stands at number five with 6.3 percent mortality rate, listed in eight countries accounting for two-thirds of global TB cases, the WHO said Wednesday as it warned that recent gains made against TB were fragile.

Deaths from TB were down three percent from 2023, while cases dropped by nearly two percent, the World Health Organization said in its annual overview.

An estimated 10.7 million people worldwide fell ill with TB in 2024: 5.8 million men, 3.7 million women and 1.2 million children.

A preventable and curable disease, tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that most often affects the lungs. It spreads through the air when people with TB cough, sneeze or spit.

Now, TB cases and deaths are both declining “for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic”, which disrupted services, said Tereza Kasaeva, head of the WHO department for HIV, TB, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections.

“Funding cuts and persistent drivers of the epidemic threaten to undo hard-won gains, but with political commitment, sustained investment, and global solidarity, we can turn the tide and end this ancient killer once and for all,” she said.

Funding for the fight against TB has stagnated since 2020.

Last year, $5.9 billion was available for prevention, diagnosis and treatment — way off the target of $22 billion annually by 2027.

Last year, eight countries accounted for two-thirds of global TB cases.

They were India (25 percent), Indonesia (10 percent), the Philippines (6.8 percent), China (6.5 percent), Pakistan (6.3 percent), Nigeria (4.8 percent), the Democratic Republic of Congo (3.9 percent) and Bangladesh (3.6 percent).