The first case of contagious, aggressive, especially drug-resistant form of tuberculosis has been identified in the United States. The Associated Press learned of the case, which until now has not been made public, as part of a six-month look at the soaring global challenge of drug resistance. It was recently reported that for the first time that a patient with extremely drug resistant TB (XXDR-TB) was identified in the United States. Extremely drug resistant TB (XXDR-TB) is very rare, much more so than extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB) and has been seen in only a handful of patients worldwide. XXDR-TB is a new designation, referring to TB that is resistant to both first and second-line drugs for TB. News information here.