Tuberculosis, illustration. Tuberculosis infection of mesenteric lymph nodes. Acquired from infected food and sputum, M. tuberculosis invades the gut mucosa and infects the local mesenteric lymph nodes producing inflammation and swelling. From here infection spreads into the body via blood and lymphatic vessels. Typically the infected gut becomes ulcerated and necrosed. Prior to antibiotics, this disease was associated with high mortality. From Bollinger, O. 1901 Atlas und Gundriss der Pathologischen Anatomie, vol 1. Lehmann, Munich.