Can one transmit disease from reading old books?

Tuberculosis can be around that long. Never good to explore an old tuberculosis hospital that has been vacant for 70–80 years

I don’t suppose you need to be told that the act of reading is not involved in transmitting anything but information. Is Knowledge a disease? Have we in America acquired a powerful resistance to the pathogens?

@stanleybmanly I’m talking about really old books. From 15 century or older. Not tongue in cheek. What if someone infected coughed on the book?

It is conceivable—seeds can sprout after thousands of years. But extremely unlikely.
In practical terms, I’d say no credible risk. But its believable enough to be a plot device ni fiction, and maybe something you might hear about in a college class about contagions.
It would also depend on the health/immunity/resistance of the person handling the book.

Some libraries used to sterilise books that had been in contact with someone with an infectious disease.

You could contract beliefs that are as bad or worse than disease.