Tuberculosis (TB) can be traced back to 9,000 years ago in humans off the coast of Israel making it one of the oldest diseases to impact humans in history. In fact, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis is estimated to date back as far as three million years. 

Despite this long period of existence, no effective treatments for tuberculosis were discovered until the late 1940s when streptomycin and para-aminosalicylic acid (both antibiotics) were developed. TB is usually treated by four specific medications over a period of six months, three of which are antibiotics.

TB can develop a resistance to the antibiotics that are normally used to cure TB infections over time. When TB stops responding to the two most potent, powerful medications against the disease, which are 1) isoniazid and 2) rifampicin, the infection is considered multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB), which is when a single bacterium is resistant to more than one antibiotic. This resistance happens when a bacteria develops immunity to a medication.

MDR-TB usually occurs for one of two reasons:

1. The first reason is when people do not follow their strict medication regimens for a whole course of treatment. This can be due to incorrectly prescribed medication regimens, ineffective or poor quality medications (eg. that expire), or interruptions in a regime (eg. stopping a course of medicine). If a full medication regimen is not completed, and you become sick again, the remaining bacteria may become resistant to the antibiotic that you've taken

2. The second reason is when MDR-TB transmits from person to person, which is more likely to happen in high-risk settings like hospitals, jails, refugee camps, and other vulnerable, densely packed settings. The more people who spread MDR-TB without being aware of it or treating it effectively, the more widespread the resistance will be and the more people will be impacted.

Treating MDR-TB is challenging, costly, and requires a disciplined routine, which is not always possible for many people.

It is estimated that 25% of the world's population has an active or latent TB infection though the vast majority of cases are asymptomatic and only 5-15% of those infected are at risk of developing active TB infections and becoming infectious.

Claims have circulated that MDR-TB is the result of the work of laboratories for the development of biological weapons in Ukraine and the U.S. For context, MDR-TB began emerging in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and takes time to spread across individuals and populations. The rate of new cases of MDR-TB in Ukraine has also been high since before the conflict began; in 2020, Ukraine had the 4th highest TB incidence rate among the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. As a result, MDR-TB in Ukraine was certainly not caused by laboratories for biological warfare.

According to the authors of the paper “Category C Potential Bioterrorism Agents and Emerging Pathogens,” MDR-TB could be used for mass exposure as a biological weapon. However, there is no sufficient evidence of any such activity ongoing in Ukraine or the U.S. The United Nations reported on March 18, 2022 that they are ‘Not Aware of Any Biological Weapons Programme in Ukraine.’ 

The Kremlin has been intentionally spreading outright lies (disinformation) about Ukraine (and the U.S. and other Western countries) both during their active invasion of Ukraine and before the crisis. Claims about biological warfare in Ukraine and the U.S. have circulated in years past and have been debunked conclusively and repeatedly over many years. According to the U.S. Department of State, claims such as these are very likely an attempt by Russia to try and justify the continuation of unprovoked and unjustified attacks on Ukraine.