Everything we know about Victorian Disease after Amazon warehouse outbreak

Workers in an Amazon factory in Coventry have tested positive for a “Victorian Disease” as unions fear a severe outbreak. Amazon confirmed that 10 people had tested positive for non-contagious TB in September 2025. But as the site employs around 2,000 workers, the union said Amazon risked its warehouse “becoming the engine room of a mass TB outbreak not seen for decades”.

The ‘Victorian disease’ refers to tuberculosis (TB), which affects the lungs and spreads through droplets in the air when a person with active TB coughs, sneezes or talks. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the disease almost became a death sentence, causing 25% of all deaths across Europe between the 1600s to the 1800s.

Rapid urbanisation during the Industrial Revolution made cases skyrocket during Victorian England, which gave the disease its nickname.

Overcrowded housing, poor ventilation and long factory hours allowed TB to spread much faster, while poor nutrition also made people more vulnerable to the disease.

Its horrific symptoms led to it being called the “white plague” in the 1700s, as sufferers took on a pale complexion as they fell deathly ill. In the 1800s, it was called “consumption” because of how much weight people lost.

Cases only began to reduce after the Victorian era, when housing improved, and the bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine was a major breakthrough in 1921. Antibiotics drastically reduced deaths after they were created in 1943.

Before that, sufferers were recommended a whole host of treatments, from consuming cod liver oil to massages with vinegar, or inhaling pungent plants. In the Middle Ages, being touched by a royal was even believed to cure the disease.

Nowadays, rates in the UK are low, according to the World Health Organisation, with just 8.5 cases per 100,000 people in 2023.

But it is still the second leading single-agent infectious killer after COVID-19 globally, with more than 10 million people falling ill with TB every year and 1.4 million dying around the world.

Dr Roger Gajraj of UKHSA West Midlands stated: “The small number of individuals affected by tuberculosis are responding well to treatment and are no longer infectious, so pose no onward risk.”

However, GMB union’s senior organiser Amanda Gearing warned: “Currently, Amazon is putting all workers, site visitors, and the local and wider communities at risk of exposure to a serious infectious disease.

“Coventry Amazon risks becoming the engine room of a mass TB outbreak on a scale not seen for decades. Immediate and decisive action – including the temporary closure of Amazon Coventry – is required to prevent this,” reports The Sun.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: “Last year, a small number of people who work at our Coventry fulfilment centre tested positive for TB.

“In line with best practice safety procedures, we immediately followed guidance from the NHS and UKHSA and made all potentially affected employees aware of the situation.

“Those affected by TB responded well to treatment and are no longer infectious, posing no onward risk. As a precaution, we are running an expanded screening programme with the NHS this month.

“To date, no additional cases have been identified, and our site continues to run as normal. We will continue to follow guidance from the experts in the NHS, and would respectfully remind public organisations of the need for responsible communications where matters of public wellbeing are concerned.”

The NHS lists the following common symptoms:

• a cough that lasts more than 3 weeks – you may cough up mucus (phlegm) or mucus with blood in it
• feeling tired or exhausted
• a high temperature or night sweats
• loss of appetite
• weight loss
• feeling generally unwell
• Children may also have difficulty gaining weight or growing.

If TB has spread to another part of your body, such as your glands (lymph nodes), bones or brain, other symptoms may include: 

• swollen glands
• body aches and pains
• swollen joints or ankles
• tummy or pelvic pain
• constipation
• dark or cloudy pee
• a headache
• being sick
• feeling confused
• a stiff neck
• a rash on the legs, face or other part of the body