In a locked down room in an Arizona hospital sits a man who's been imprisoned for nearly a year, and his sentence is indefinite...though he's not a criminal. His "crime" is having an extremely drug-resistant variety of tuberculosis, and his condition is considered untreatable. Officials got a court order to quarantine him last year after he failed to follow doctor's orders and wear a mask in public to prevent spreading the disease.

Beyond getting a TB test before being hired at certain jobs, I don't think many of us worry about TB these days. That's probably because TB is treatable, and rates of infection in the United States are at their lowest. But this new, resistant TB is showing up all over the world, and the WHO warns that in our globalized culture, viruses are only a plane ride away. Several states, including Texas, California, and New York reported detaining TB patients involuntarily last year. The practice is rare, and typically only happens when patients refuse to follow doctor's guidelines for preventing infection.

Health experts warn that if patients do not comply, the new strain of TB could spread and turn a completely treatable disease to an incurable one. Others in the medical community criticize the practice of detention for placing blame on the victim of the disease and say it should always be a last resort. What's your opinion of this practice -- necessary to protect public health, or a violation of civil liberties for those involved?