white plague

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

white plague
    n 1: involving the lungs with progressive wasting of the body
         [syn: {pulmonary tuberculosis}, {consumption}, {phthisis},
         {wasting disease}, {white plague}]
    2: an addiction to a drug (especially a narcotic drug) [syn:
       {drug addiction}, {white plague}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

White plague \White plague\
   Tuberculosis, esp. of the lungs.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]