The Forgotten Plague focuses on deadliest killer in human history, tuberculosis

At least one of my ancestors died from consumption, and I suspect you may have an ancestor or two who died of this same disease, eventually called tuberculosis.

The name consumption came from the emaciation as the fever built and as the coughing continued. Sufferers experienced the sensation of counghing themselves to death.

During most of the 19th century, people thought consumption was hereditary. The realization that the disease was contagious came in 1882 when the tuberculosis bacillus was discovered.

In Canada, the first treament centre for tuberculosis was built in 1899 in Sainte-Agathe, Quebec in the Laurentians. (It burned to the ground in 1902.) It was believed at the time that fresh mountain air could help cure tuberculosis and other pulmonary diseases

On Tuesday, February 10, PBS will broadcast The Forgotten Plague: Tuberculosis in America at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

This is the program description:

By the dawn of the 19th century, the deadliest killer in human history, tuberculosis, had killed one in seven of all the people who had ever lived. The disease struck America with a vengeance, ravaging communities and touching the lives of almost every family. The battle against the deadly bacteria had a profound and lasting impact on the country. It shaped medical and scientific pursuits, social habits, economic development, western expansion, and government policy. Yet both the disease and its impact are poorly understood: in the words of one writer, tuberculosis is our “forgotten plague.”

You can watch a preview and the first chapter of the program here.