What is "white plague"

White plague \White plague\ Tuberculosis, esp. of the lungs.

1. n. involving the lungs with progressive wasting of the body [syn: pulmonary tuberculosis, consumption, phthisis, wasting disease]

2. an addiction to a drug (especially a narcotic drug) [syn: drug addiction]

White plague can refer to:

• Any epidemic disease that makes the patients appear pale, especially tuberculosis during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century.
• The White Plague, a 1982 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert featuring a bioengineered plague that kills females.
• The White Disease (Czech:Bílá nemoc), a 1937 play by Karel Capek.
• In microelectronics, a white gold-aluminium intermetallic compound that degrades wire bonding between gold and aluminum.
• A disease caused by Aurantimonas coralicida bacteria, affecting and killing corals during summer.
• The sub-replacement fertility phenomenon, the decline in some nations of birthrates.