Bradford and Airedale saw the highest number of cases of tuberculosis in the Yorkshire and Humber region last year, new figures reveal.

A total of 191 people in the district were infected with the disease in 2006, an increase of 19 per cent on 2005, when 160 cases were reported. There were 110 cases in 2004.

In the Yorkshire and Humber region, a total of 704 cases of tuberculosis (TB) were reported in 2006, an increase of 22 per cent on 2005. The Calderdale district reported 23 cases in 2006, Kirklees 70 cases and Leeds 154 cases.

The figures come from the Health Protection Agency, which reported a total of 8,497 cases in the UK in 2006, a slight increase from 2005 when there were 8,477 cases.

Nationally, the London region had the most number of cases in 2006, with 3,362 cases, accounting for 40 per cent of the total number of cases of TB in the UK, followed by the West Midlands, which reported 941 cases.

Dr Ruth Gelletlie, regional director of the Health Protection Agency in Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "Clearly the rise in TB cases in the Yorkshire and the Humber region shown in the HPA's Tuberculosis in the UK report is a cause for concern.

"However, it should be stressed that the region reflects the national picture of TB in that levels of the disease among the general population continue to be very low.

"TB is a preventable and treatable condition. The key to reducing levels of the disease is early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

"A key role of the Health Protection Agency is to provide information on the nature and extent of TB and to give specialist advice to those who provide health services on how best to respond so that services are tailored to the needs of those most affected."

Dr Dee Kyle, consultant in public health at Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT, said: "The rise in the number of TB cases in Yorkshire and Humber has also been seen in the Bradford district.

"We are working very closely with the Health Protection Agency to further develop our local services to prevent, diagnose and treat TB."

TB is a disease caused by a germ which is usually spread in the air. It is caught from another person who has TB of the lungs when that person coughs or sneezes.

Only some people with TB in the lungs are infectious to other people and even then there needs to be close and prolonged contact with them to be at risk of being infected. TB disease develops slowly in the body and it usually takes several months for symptoms to appear. Symp-toms include fever and night sweats, a persistent cough, losing weight and blood in your phlegm or spit at any time.