The invention belongs to the biomedical detection field, in particular relates to a reagent and method used for detecting activity tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection; based on the genomic principle, the invention discloses a novel detection reagent for mycobacterium tuberculosis, containing protein or polypeptide which is represented by SEQ ID1-2, 4-5, 8-28; the method uses one or a plurality of SEQ ID 1-28 protein or polypeptide to contact T cells of a mycobacterium tuberculosis host, and detects cytokine released from the T cells; the method can detect the tuberculosis and latent infection effectively and is not interfered by BCG vaccine at the same time; the invention also discloses a diagnostic reagent kit and other application based on the protein or polypeptide and the method; compared with the T-SPOT of the prior art, the invention can improve detectable rate obviously under the condition that the specificity is not reduced; the reagent kit has cheap price, and the cost is 1/5 to 1/10 of that of the T-SPOT reagent, thus being beneficial to being popularized in the developing countries and poor areas.