Moving Forward, Looking Back

The Florida Tuberculosis Sanatorium

Located in the northeastern community of Trilby, the Florida Tuberculosis Sanatorium is believed to be the first TB sanatorium in Florida.

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases, lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacterium. Spread through the open air when people with the active infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit their saliva, the TB disease typically attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, TB caused the most widespread public concern as an endemic disease of the urban poor. And, after finding it contagious in the 1880s, this fatal disease was added to the list of notifiable diseases in Britain and other countries, and aggressive campaigns began to ban spitting in public places. But, prior to the introduction of antibiotic streptomycin in 1946, the only …

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