This is a link to a local fox station covering a situation that is happening here in Atlanta as well as Montreal Canada and in Europe, if you have traveled from the airport in Atlanta to Europe or into Montreal this month then read this news report as you may have been infected.
Traveler With Rare TB Strain in Federal Quarantine
Last Edited: Tuesday, 29 May 2007, 9:59 PM EDT
Created: Tuesday, 29 May 2007, 3:23 PM EDT
A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by the U.S. government after possibly exposing passengers and crew on two trans-Atlantic flights earlier this month, health officials said Tuesday. (AP GRAPHIC) SideBar
Related Items
Links
CDC: XDR TB
Videos
By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -- Infected with a rare and extremely dangerous form of tuberculosis, a Georgia man ignored doctors' advice and set off to hopscotch around the world, stopping in cities including Paris, Rome, Prague and Montreal before the trip was over.
The man's journey, which included two trans-Atlantic flights, created international public health turmoil and led the U.S. government to issue its first quarantine since a smallpox scare in 1963.
Now, just one question remains: Why did he do it?
"Normally, when someone has tuberculosis, we influence them through a covenant of trust so that they don't put themselves in situations where they could potentially expose others," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC's director.
Video: TB Case Brings Warning to Air Passengers - FOX 5's Beth Galvin reports.
The man, whom officials did not identify, was at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital on Tuesday in respiratory isolation. Since he was potentially infectious at the time of the flights, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended medical exams for cabin crew members on those flights, as well as passengers sitting in the same rows or within two rows.
The other passengers were not considered at high risk for infection, officials said.
Citing patient confidentiality rules, officials declined to release details about the man. But they said he was repeatedly told not to fly.
Before he made the trip, health officials in Fulton County, Ga., told him he had a form of TB that was resistant to first-line antibiotics. They advised him not to go to Europe.
"He was told traveling is against medical advice," said Dr. Steven Katkowsky, director of the Fulton County Department of Health & Wellness.
The infected man flew from Atlanta to Paris on May 12 aboard Air France Flight 385. He returned to North America on May 24 aboard Czech Air Flight 0104 from Prague to Montreal, despite instruction by doctors in Italy that he should not fly home. The man then drove into the United States at the Champlain, N.Y., border crossing.
Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine, reached the man once he was back in the United States. At that point, he voluntarily went to a New York hospital, then was flown by the CDC to Atlanta and hospitalized. He is not facing prosecution, health officials said.
The man told health officials he was not coughing during the flights, and before the trip, Georgia officials said they did not observe any symptoms. Tests indicated the amount of TB bacteria in him was low, so passengers are not considered at high risk, Cetron said.
The man, who went on the trip with his wife, also traveled within Europe, but CDC officials said they did not have information to release about whether the trips were by plane, train or other public transportation. His wife tested negative for TB before the trip and is not considered a public health risk, health officials said.
One health official shared a report that the man was on his honeymoon, but that was not confirmed by CDC leaders in a Tuesday news conference.
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to person through the air. TB usually affects the lungs and can lead to symptoms such as chest pain and the coughing up of blood. It kills nearly 2 million people each year worldwide.
Thanks to antibiotics and other measures, the TB rate in the United States has been falling for years. Last year, it hit an all-time low -- a total of 13,767 cases, or about 4.6 cases per 100,000 Americans.
But health officials worry about "multidrug-resistant" TB, which can withstand the mainline antibiotics isoniazid and rifampin. The man was infected with something even worse -- "extensively drug-resistant" TB, also called XDR-TB, which resists many drugs used to treat the infection.
There have been 17 U.S. XDR-TB cases since 2000, according to CDC statistics. Three-quarters were people from foreign countries. One case was a Russian man who arrived in Phoenix last year. He was jailed after he stopped taking medications and went unmasked to a Jack in the Box and other businesses, threatening the health of others.
Health officials said they don't know how the Georgia man was first infected. He was prescribed four antibiotics in late March. On May 10, test results first showed he had a multidrug-resistant form of TB, Katkowsky said.
The CDC's statement that the patient is at the low end of communicability "provides some reassurance," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University.
The highly dangerous form is "expanding around the world," particularly in South Africa, eastern Europe and the former states of the Soviet Union, he said.
The United States needs to keep TB control programs strong, not only to act domestically but also to help fight the disease overseas so it won't be imported, he said.
Health officials have been concerned about the intercontinental transport of a deadly pandemic flu, should one materialize. But this TB incident may have little do with such a scenario, Katkowsky said.
"This is not as easily transmissible as what we're concerned about with a flu pandemic," he said.
------
Associated Press writer Malcolm Ritter contributed from New York, and Rob Gillies contributed from Toronto.
Copyright 2007 Fox Atlanta (WAGA). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.
Suggested Searchesunited states - federal quarantine - dangerous form - possibly exposing passengers - patient confidentialityRelated StoriesMan Quarantined After Diagnosis of Rare TB
AP: Government Drafts Pandemic Flu Plan
Traveler With Rare TB Strain in Federal Quarantine
Last Edited: Tuesday, 29 May 2007, 9:59 PM EDT
Created: Tuesday, 29 May 2007, 3:23 PM EDT
A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by the U.S. government after possibly exposing passengers and crew on two trans-Atlantic flights earlier this month, health officials said Tuesday. (AP GRAPHIC) SideBar
Related Items
Links
CDC: XDR TB
Videos
By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -- Infected with a rare and extremely dangerous form of tuberculosis, a Georgia man ignored doctors' advice and set off to hopscotch around the world, stopping in cities including Paris, Rome, Prague and Montreal before the trip was over.
The man's journey, which included two trans-Atlantic flights, created international public health turmoil and led the U.S. government to issue its first quarantine since a smallpox scare in 1963.
Now, just one question remains: Why did he do it?
"Normally, when someone has tuberculosis, we influence them through a covenant of trust so that they don't put themselves in situations where they could potentially expose others," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC's director.
Video: TB Case Brings Warning to Air Passengers - FOX 5's Beth Galvin reports.
The man, whom officials did not identify, was at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital on Tuesday in respiratory isolation. Since he was potentially infectious at the time of the flights, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended medical exams for cabin crew members on those flights, as well as passengers sitting in the same rows or within two rows.
The other passengers were not considered at high risk for infection, officials said.
Citing patient confidentiality rules, officials declined to release details about the man. But they said he was repeatedly told not to fly.
Before he made the trip, health officials in Fulton County, Ga., told him he had a form of TB that was resistant to first-line antibiotics. They advised him not to go to Europe.
"He was told traveling is against medical advice," said Dr. Steven Katkowsky, director of the Fulton County Department of Health & Wellness.
The infected man flew from Atlanta to Paris on May 12 aboard Air France Flight 385. He returned to North America on May 24 aboard Czech Air Flight 0104 from Prague to Montreal, despite instruction by doctors in Italy that he should not fly home. The man then drove into the United States at the Champlain, N.Y., border crossing.
Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine, reached the man once he was back in the United States. At that point, he voluntarily went to a New York hospital, then was flown by the CDC to Atlanta and hospitalized. He is not facing prosecution, health officials said.
The man told health officials he was not coughing during the flights, and before the trip, Georgia officials said they did not observe any symptoms. Tests indicated the amount of TB bacteria in him was low, so passengers are not considered at high risk, Cetron said.
The man, who went on the trip with his wife, also traveled within Europe, but CDC officials said they did not have information to release about whether the trips were by plane, train or other public transportation. His wife tested negative for TB before the trip and is not considered a public health risk, health officials said.
One health official shared a report that the man was on his honeymoon, but that was not confirmed by CDC leaders in a Tuesday news conference.
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to person through the air. TB usually affects the lungs and can lead to symptoms such as chest pain and the coughing up of blood. It kills nearly 2 million people each year worldwide.
Thanks to antibiotics and other measures, the TB rate in the United States has been falling for years. Last year, it hit an all-time low -- a total of 13,767 cases, or about 4.6 cases per 100,000 Americans.
But health officials worry about "multidrug-resistant" TB, which can withstand the mainline antibiotics isoniazid and rifampin. The man was infected with something even worse -- "extensively drug-resistant" TB, also called XDR-TB, which resists many drugs used to treat the infection.
There have been 17 U.S. XDR-TB cases since 2000, according to CDC statistics. Three-quarters were people from foreign countries. One case was a Russian man who arrived in Phoenix last year. He was jailed after he stopped taking medications and went unmasked to a Jack in the Box and other businesses, threatening the health of others.
Health officials said they don't know how the Georgia man was first infected. He was prescribed four antibiotics in late March. On May 10, test results first showed he had a multidrug-resistant form of TB, Katkowsky said.
The CDC's statement that the patient is at the low end of communicability "provides some reassurance," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University.
The highly dangerous form is "expanding around the world," particularly in South Africa, eastern Europe and the former states of the Soviet Union, he said.
The United States needs to keep TB control programs strong, not only to act domestically but also to help fight the disease overseas so it won't be imported, he said.
Health officials have been concerned about the intercontinental transport of a deadly pandemic flu, should one materialize. But this TB incident may have little do with such a scenario, Katkowsky said.
"This is not as easily transmissible as what we're concerned about with a flu pandemic," he said.
------
Associated Press writer Malcolm Ritter contributed from New York, and Rob Gillies contributed from Toronto.
Copyright 2007 Fox Atlanta (WAGA). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.
Suggested Searchesunited states - federal quarantine - dangerous form - possibly exposing passengers - patient confidentialityRelated StoriesMan Quarantined After Diagnosis of Rare TB
AP: Government Drafts Pandemic Flu Plan
