It’s not every day that scientists find a cheap, easy-to-use tool for fighting a major international health scourge.

An international team of researchers seems to have done just that. They say a laboratory mix-up led them to discover that plain vinegar can kill germs that cause tuberculosis, leprosy and other ailments. This category of germs, called mycobacteria, can be tough to eliminate with disinfectants.

Though tuberculosis, called T-B, is not currently a major threat in the U.S., it is one worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease struck almost 9 million people in 2012 and killed about 1.3 million.

Fighting T-B can be tricky, partly because the germs that cause it do not always yield to medication. The bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Some cases of tuberculosis clear up fine with antibiotic therapy. Others require more careful management and special medications for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

The researchers suggest vinegar be used to clean surfaces contaminated by mycobacteria. More tests are needed to learn what concentration of vinegar’s active ingredient, acetic acid, is needed to kill different kinds of mycobacteria in specific situations. The researchers do not propose vinegar be used in anti-T-B medication.

The scientists did prove that vinegar with a 6 percent concentration of acetic acid kills T-B germs after 30 minutes. Common vinegar sold in the United States has a lower concentration, but other countries sell it with higher levels.

Vinegar is cheaper than other disinfecting agents, such as bleach. That makes it great for use where resources are scarce. It’s also safer for human contact.

With the high costs of many things in health care today, finding such a simple weapon against disease is refreshing.