Tuberculosis kills over 2 million people worldwide and costs $12 billion each year - and the deadly disease is on the rise. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, the deadliest form of tuberculosis, has now infected as many as 50 million people in over 30 countries. Yet many state and federal governments are cutting their budgets for tuberculosis prevention programs, says Ed Nardell, a tuberculosis researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.