The epidemic of tuberculosis, one of the world's most lethal and costly infectious diseases, has risen to record levels of 8.8m new infections a year and drug resistant forms are on the rise, according to data released yesterday.

The World Health Organisation's Global Tuberculosis Control report for 2007 showed the total number of infections rose slightly in 2005 over 2004 - the latest data available - although the incidence rate fell because it was outstripped by population growth.