Which bacterial disease is known to spread through the air and primarily affects the lungs?

The correct choice is tuberculosis, a bacterial disease primarily characterized by its ability to spread through the air via respiratory droplets. When an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or talks, they release tiny droplets containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis into the air. Other people can inhale these droplets, leading to the infection primarily targeting the lungs, although it can also affect other parts of the body.

Tuberculosis often presents with symptoms such as a persistent cough, chest pain, and coughing up blood, along with other systemic symptoms like fever and weight loss, all of which highlight its pulmonary focus. Its mode of transmission through the air distinguishes it from other infections that do not spread in this manner or are often viral or driven by different bacteria, such as pneumonia or bronchitis, which can have varied causes and sometimes do not transmit as effectively between individuals. Whooping cough, while also contagious, is primarily caused by bordetella pertussis and produces a distinctive cough.

Thus, tuberculosis’s airborne transmission and lung affinity solidify its classification as the answer to the question regarding which bacterial disease spreads through the air and primarily affects the lungs.