Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), remains a leading infectious threat to public health worldwide. It is estimated to have infected 2–3 billion people and causes ~1.5 million deaths each year.

Tuberculosis (TB), an ancient, yet re-emerging infectious disease, is responsible for more deaths than almost all other infectious diseases, and the vaccine, drugs and diagnostic tests currently in use are limiting the effectiveness of global efforts to prevent and control TB. The BCG vaccine, the only licensed TB vaccine, has now been in use for almost one hundred years; however, it provides only limited protection. Drugs currently used to treat TB have been in use clinically for almost half a century and bacterial drug resistance is a growing problem. In addition, current methods for detecting TB are not very effective, and the detection rate is low. Suitable biomarkers which can be used in rapid screening methods for TB are lacking.