Case findings and treatment are the most important strategies in TB control. Domestic environmental conditions are linked to poverty and are therefore less amenable to short term control.

Tuberculosis probably occurred as an endemic disease among animals long before it affected humans (Daniel, 1994). The first and widely accepted theory involves the development of genetically determined herd immunity. This happened because environmental changes were associated with a change in the delicate balance between humans and the tubercle bacillus (Stead, 1992 cited in Daniel 1994).

The factors underlying the emergence of disease include various ecological changes including deforestation, irrigation, urban crowding, long-distance movement of people and the development of resistance to antibiotics. It has to be understood that the role of environment factors especially in infectious diseases is to mediate the extent of contagion by altering the abundance of pathogens or the frequency and nature of infectious contacts (Wilson, 2001). In general, the transmission of agents that are waterborne, food-borne, vector-borne or airborne or have an animal reservoir tends to be more strongly influenced by environmental variables.