The Government is targeting Bradford as part of a national campaign to cut the number of deaths from tuberculosis.

The district has been branded high-risk when it comes to the potential killer and latest figures show it has the fourth highest incidence of TB in the country.

UK cases fell to an all time low of 5,745 in 1987, but has risen to 7,000 in line with a worldwide resurgence. The disease is concentrated in a few urban areas, namely London, Birmingham, Leicestershire and Bradford.

Called TB - Be Aware, the campaign aims to warn high-risk communities about the symptoms, which can be easily confused with common illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis.

Health minister Yvette Cooper said: "It is the right time for a prevention campaign which will aim to raise awareness of the symptoms among health professionals and tackle the stigma around TB in communities at high risk.

"It is important that TB is diagnosed early so it can be treated and not spread further."

TB killed thousands of its victims in Victorian times, but can now be treated with antibiotics if caught early.

Department of Health figures show Bradford recorded a slight drop in the number of cases to 139 in 2000.

London has seen the biggest increase, with reports nearly doubling from about 1,500 in 1998 to 3,000 in 2000. About half of the cases in the UK are in people born abroad and those who have lived, worked or travelled in places where it is more common, including Asia or Africa.

The campaign, which features Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Sonali Bendre, runs to the end of April.

Posters and leaflets have been distributed to GP practices and information in Gujurati, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, Somali and Russian is also available.