Kansas is currently experiencing a rare outbreak of tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease. TB is spread via germs in the air and usually affects the lungs but can also affect the brain, the kidneys or the spine.

A wave of tuberculosis cases hitting the Kansas City, Kansas, metro area has become the largest documented TB outbreak in the United States since monitoring began in the 1950s, according to the state health department.

State health officials said that dozens of people in the Kansas City, Kan., area have the disease, which has drawn a federal response.