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Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from San Diego County News Center official release and NBC 7, CBS 8, and Hoodline reporting909 chars
The San Diego County Tuberculosis Prevention and Care Program is announcing a potential exposure to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) at Southwestern Community College, 900 Otay Lakes Road, Chula Vista. The period of possible exposure was October 27 through December 14, 2025. MDR-TB is a type of tuberculosis that does not respond to standard first-line medications. The County is focused on people who shared frequent or extended indoor space with the identified case and will be offering TB testing, symptom checks, chest X-rays, and, when appropriate, preventive treatment. If you believe you may have been exposed, please call the County TB Prevention and Care Program at (619) 692-8621. Tuberculosis is an airborne disease spread when a person with active TB coughs, speaks, or breathes. Most people who are exposed do not develop active disease, but all identified contacts should be evaluated.
This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.
MDR-TB is a critical public health escalation over ordinary TB: standard medications (isoniazid and rifampin) are ineffective, requiring second-line drugs that take 18-24 months to complete treatment and carry more side effects.
The seven-week exposure window covering most of the fall 2025 semester meant that the potential contact population was very large -- up to 20,000 students and staff who attended the Otay Lakes campus during that period.
San Diego County has one of the highest TB incidence rates in California (247 active cases in 2024), partly due to proximity to the US-Mexico border and large immigrant communities from high-burden countries -- a structural risk factor for community college TB exposures.