T B QUARANTINES IN SOUTH AFRICA

I never thought we would ever see the time again, when people would be quarantined for T B They are guarded in a compound in South Africa with high fences and guards.

This strain of T B is incurable. The drugs that might help are years away from being released. Critics say the patients are being violated of their civil rights. And the quarantine is violating medical ethics.

Many of the people with this strain of T B die before they are tested and treated. By the time they are tested they have infected many people. Doctors Without Borders and other organizations say the government is downplaying the numbers of people infected.

The South African government says there were 343,000 cases in the year 2006.6,000 were drug resistant.The youngest patient is one years old.