Tuberculosis used to be a global plague. Many contracted TB, and many died from it, from Britain's Henry VII to America's John Henry "Doc" Holliday. It's also a fairly simple disease, caused by an agile little bug, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which has the unfortunate propensity to develop into antibiotic-resistant strains. And what's more, it's a bug that's contagious, can be spread by aerosol, and is a prime subject for use as a biological agent.

On Wednesday, a report surfaced that Lousiana's Governor, Jeff Landry, and the state's attorney general, are suing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the case of an illegal immigrant, from China, who was discovered to be carrying a rare, drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis:

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill are suing the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over a woman from China who illegally came into the country and might have exposed hundreds of inmates to a rare form of tuberculosis.

The woman was transported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to facilities in Monroe, Basile and Lafayette. The lawsuit claims the woman came into contact with more than 200 detainees and an unknown number of employees in those facilities.

The lawsuit states she “carries a rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, which carries high mortality rates.” Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham has ordered that the woman be isolated. He also has ordered that no detainees from those facilities be released until the Louisiana Department of Health has medically cleared them.

Fox News' Bill Melugin is also reporting on this case, and is seeking comment from ICE:

NEW: Louisiana announced today the state is suing DHS after a female Chinese illegal alien infected with a rare, medically resistant, & deadly form of tuberculosis was transferred to ICE custody in LA where she may have exposed hundreds of people to the disease while in…

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 23, 2024

NEW: Louisiana announced today the state is suing DHS after a female Chinese  illegal alien infected with a rare, medically resistant, & deadly form of tuberculosis was transferred to ICE custody in LA where she may have exposed hundreds of people to the disease while in detention facilities. 

I’m told by federal sources that the woman initially crossed illegally in San Diego sector, and was transferred by Border Patrol to ICE in Louisiana, and that she remains in custody there now, “really sick”.

Louisiana is suing to stop ICE from releasing any other inmates who may have been exposed to the woman until they’ve been medically cleared by the state.

The implications here are chilling.

See Related: CDC: Tuberculosis Cases Spiking in USA Since 2022. What Else Has Spiked in America Since Then?

Surge of Chinese Illegal Immigrants at Southern Border Presents National Security Threat

Chinese Nationals Charged With Lying to Authorities After Being Caught Near Michigan Military Base

There is no evidence as yet of this being connected to the Chinese government. However, with that said: My educational background is in biology, and like everyone who served in the military, I went through the usual Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) warfare training, or as we called it, "Nukes, Bugs and Gas." Of that miserable triad, it was always "Bugs" that did and still do terrify me. Nukes have some after-effects but in general, once the thing has gone off, the worst is over. Chemical weapons break down in time; the time may be minutes or months, but they break down. Bugs, though... bugs reproduce, they spread, they grow, and worst, they can mutate. And tuberculosis is, as noted above, an agile little bug.

The very notion of biological warfare should scare the ever-loving kapok out of anyone who understands it, and if one was going to introduce a biological agent into another country, this is one way you'd do it - but you wouldn't send just one carrier. You'd send hundreds or thousands.

Like the tens of thousands of Chinese nationals who have entered the country illegally since January of 2021, through our wide-open southern border.

As always, we will continue to monitor this situation and provide an update as events warrant.