White soft tissue resulting from cell death (necrosis) resembles cheese in appearance. This caseous (cheesy) necrosis is a feature of tissue destruction by tuberculosis (TB); however other illness can also cause caseous necrosis.
TB is mainly caused by the non-motile bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis which grows inside cells particularly in regions with high oxygen content such as the lungs. Spread of TB is by inhaling minute droplets resulting from coughing by an individual with active TB.
TB is more common in areas with overcrowding, under nutrition, low income, HIV and so on; essentially among the poor. Poverty predisposes to TB and TB worsens poverty – a vicious cycle
A third of the world’s population is estimated to be infected with TB (latent); however the vast majority of infected people do not develop active TB for largely unknown reasons.
Reference:
Ahmad S: Pathogenesis, Immunology, and Diagnosis of Latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection. Clin Dev Immunol, 2011; 2011: 814943. Go to reference
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