Recent research suggests that the emergence of tuberculosis infection in human populations dates back tens of thousands of years earlier than previously known cases in the Middle East. In collaboration with an international research team, Hungarian researchers have edited and published a special issue of the journal Tuberculosis.

In July 2022, the Department of Anthropology of the University of Szeged organised a conference on the paleopathology and evolution of tuberculosis. The ICEPT3 conference was closely linked to the NRDI-best funded research project of György Pálfi (Department of Anthropology, Szeged University), and the presentations of researchers from all over the world provided a comprehensive overview of the history of the pathogen, going beyond the previous knowledge.