Political Cartoons
Deadly African TB Strain Now in US
By Cartoon: Manny Francisco, Manila, The Phillippines, Project: Cynthia Kirkeby, ClassBrain
Apr 14, 2007, 14:39 PST

© Manny Francisco, Manila, The Phillippines 2007

An extremely virulent strain of drug resistent African tuberculosis, called XDR-TB, is spreading quickly and has now shown up in the US. According to a recent World Health Organization announcement, it has now been identified in 35 countries, 16 of which have just shown up within the past year.

Questions to Ponder

• Is this particular strain of TB actually something to worry about?
  
  
• Do countries have some way to screen incoming travelers for the TB strain?
  
  
• Should children in the US begin to receive the more potent vaccination to prevent the spread of XDR-TB?
  
  
• What can be done to keep XDR-TB from becoming a pandemic?
  
  

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