Panic on campus as college students exposed to drug-resistant contagious disease

A troubling health alert is rattling a Southern California campus after officials revealed that students and staff may have been exposed to a dangerous, drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis.

San Diego County health officials sounded the alarm on Thursday, warning that anyone who set foot on the Southwestern Community College campus in Chula Vista between late October and mid-December 2025 might be carrying the dangerous, hard-to-treat bug.

The case involves multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) — a rare but more serious form of the disease that does not respond to standard antibiotics, making it harder and longer to treat.  

Officials are now scrambling to identify and notify anyone who may have been exposed.

Health experts warn that MDR-TB isn’t your average infection.

“The good news is that TB, including MDR-TB, is treatable and curable with the right medication,” San Diego Public Health Officer Sayone Thihalolipavan said, emphasizing that early screening is key.

The disease spreads through the air — when an infected person coughs, speaks, or even breathes — meaning crowded indoor settings like classrooms can increase the risk of transmission.

Anyone who spent extended time on campus during the exposure window could be affected, though brief contact carries a lower risk, officials said.  

Those who test positive but show no symptoms likely have latent TB, meaning the bacteria is present but inactive. Still, without treatment, about 5% to 10% of latent cases can turn into active cases if left untreated, according to health officials.

But the delayed discovery highlights a chilling reality: TB can go undetected for months, silently spreading before a diagnosis is made.  

San Diego County already has an estimated 175,000 people living with latent TB infections, underscoring how widespread the underlying condition can be. The warning comes as tuberculosis cases have been climbing in recent years, with hundreds of active cases reported annually. Still, MDR-TB remains relatively rare, with experts reporting just three in 2024, and two in 2025 in San Diego County.