A new, untreatable form of tuberculosis is striking up to 30,000 people a year, the World Health Organization said on Friday, and warned it could spark an "apocalyptic scenario" if unchecked.The United Nations agency appealed for $2.15 billion to combat drug-resistant TB under a program which it said could save up to 134,000 lives over two years.
| Extensively drug resistant TB, virtually immune to antibiotics, has been reported in 37 countries since emerging in 2006 |
The recent case of an American man with XDR-TB who traveled abroad triggered an international health scare, highlighting the potential risks of rapid spread.
XDR-TB cases are particularly difficult to treat, and a patient could infect other people for years, according to Mario Raviglione, director of the WHO's Stop TB Department.