CDC: 107 people on TB flights need tests

[angelmom]

The next day, instead of giving the couple travel arrangements, the man said a CDC staff member told him he'd need to turn himself into Italian health authorities the next morning and agree to go into isolation and treatment in that country for an indefinite period of time.

"I thought to myself: 'You're nuts.' I wasn't going to do that. They told me I had been put on the no-fly list and my passport was flagged," the man said.

The man said the CDC told him he could not fly aboard a commercial airliner with his disease. "We asked about the CDC jet and they said no, there wasn't funding in the budget to use the jet," he said.

ok- this is the part that still really upsets me- I can maybe see his point, up, until this point

I'm with you. But what was he supposed to do? Turn himself in to Italian authorities and just live there for an indefinite period of time? He had already been told that no one else could treat him except the hospital in Denver. He had already been told that even the best treatment was going to take 18 months. He doesn't live in Italy. Is his wife supposed to stay in Italy in a hotel and hope he miraculously gets better? Is she supposed to fly home alone and hope she ever sees him again?

He had been living for 5 months without taking any precautions at all, so I'm sure he figured one more day wasn't going to do any more damage than he'd already done. He needed to get home, and they wouldn't help him do it safely.

I really don't know. I think if they had given him some hope of getting him out of there, he might have waited, but they made it sound like he might die in Italy waiting to figure out a way to get home.

 

[pedinurse]

But I don't think he realized the danger to others. They "advised him not to travel." They knew of his plans to get married in Greece and honeymoon in Italy; in fact, his plans for treatment in Denver were scheduled for after his honeymoon. So they knew he was going. No one told him not to go, just that they "preferred" he didn't.

For all he knew, it was for the sake of his health, not anyone else's. They had not told him to take any precautions around his family and friends, or even his fiancee. He felt fine and had continued about his normal life since January without them so much as reminding him to cover his mouth when he sneezed. No face masks, no gloves, nothing. My friend who is going through chemo has had more warning than this!

I'm not saying he was right to get on that plane and sneak back into the US, but I'm not sure what I would have done once I was already there. I really think someone at the CDC dropped the ball big time on this.

As far as the people on the planes and in the airports, the CDC is just covering their asses. If his fiancee isn't sick after being with him since January, a few hours on the plane with him is probably a very small risk. They are trying to generate another side of the story to deflect attention from their own screw up.

Yes, he wasn't informed of how bad his TB really was until he was already in Rome. At that point, they wanted him to surrender to forgien officials, and he got scared. OUR government has an armed (with a GUN) officier outside his room 24/7 in Atlanta, even though he came voluntarily for treatment. What would they have done to him in Italy? I can see why he wanted to go to the US for treatment and did what he thought was important to do so. It would have been nice if he had done it the right way though - without exposing others.

 

[pedinurse]

I'm with you. But what was he supposed to do? Turn himself in to Italian authorities and just live there for an indefinite period of time? He had already been told that no one else could treat him except the hospital in Denver. He had already been told that even the best treatment was going to take 18 months. He doesn't live in Italy. Is his wife supposed to stay in Italy in a hotel and hope he miraculously gets better? Is she supposed to fly home alone and hope she ever sees him again?

He had been living for 5 months without taking any precautions at all, so I'm sure he figured one more day wasn't going to do any more damage than he'd already done. He needed to get home, and they wouldn't help him do it safely.

I really don't know. I think if they had given him some hope of getting him out of there, he might have waited, but they made it sound like he might die in Italy waiting to figure out a way to get home.

exactly. he had been living as he pleased while working with state authorities. they advised against travel, but they do that for ALL KINDS OF DISEASES and it is just a recommendations - mostly incase the person got really sick. Then, he's abroad and he's told how truely bad it is - and all hell breaks loose. Then he is scared to death and wants to get back to the US so he can get adequate care. I feel bad for him.

 

[pedinurse]

could you imagine being told to go and surrender to authorities in another country - where you can't even speak the language - KNOWING they will quarantine you for a year and a half to two years. what would they have done to him? very scary and i can see why he fled. if he has an ARMED security guard at our facility - what would they have done to him there? i'm sorry but knowing it is hard to spread - i can kind of see why he ran.

 

[angelwngs]

News this morning says he may have taken several inter-Euorpean flights in addition to the one previously mentions, possibly subjecting many others to the dangerous disease.

 

[twinkiesmom]

<<Huh? How is this realated to the guy with TB, was he trying to give blood? Homopobia and populations with new viruses? Did you mean to post this on a different thread?>>

It's called public health...it's all connected. People more concerned about the sick guy's rights to travel than the public's right not to be infected. People more concerned about perceived homophobia than the safety of the blood supply.

My degree's in microbiology, and I've studied bacteria and viruses at the molecular level. I work on developing new antibiotics.

Stupidity just results in unnecessary death. He didn't need to get married in Greece or Italy...he could have gotten married here. His disease is incurable and transmissable. And people on this board think he has the right to decide whether he is assymptomatic. He was told not to travel how many times? And he disobeyed orders not to travel because he was worried about his own life in Italy? And there are posters who admire his daring at eluding the Italian authorities...what if you had been on that plane next to him and had to endure testing and a possible death sentence?

 

[angelmom]

News this morning says he may have taken several inter-Euorpean flights in addition to the one previously mentions, possibly subjecting many others to the dangerous disease.

I guess the reason this doesn't upset me as much as it does others is that they let him live with his fiancee (and even honeymoon with her), go to work every day, and basically expose the entire, very international city of Atlanta (including me and my family) for 5 months. If they were so worried, why didn't they tell him to take a single precaution here? Are they only worried about Europeans? Or are they only worried about the media?

No one else he knows is sick after being around him for 5 months. He has been treated since January - with a normal infection you can return to life after 24 hours of antibiotics if you feel well. He has never felt sick. And even the CDC says that air travel is an extremely low risk of transmitting disease. Was he supposed to die in Italy waiting for them?

I'd bet $100 no one gets sick from this.

 

[angelmom]

<<Huh? How is this realated to the guy with TB, was he trying to give blood? Homopobia and populations with new viruses? Did you mean to post this on a different thread?>>

It's called public health...it's all connected. People more concerned about the sick guy's rights to travel than the public's right not to be infected. People more concerned about perceived homophobia than the safety of the blood supply.

My degree's in microbiology, and I've studied bacteria and viruses at the molecular level. I work on developing new antibiotics.

Stupidity just results in unnecessary death. He didn't need to get married in Greece or Italy...he could have gotten married here. His disease is incurable and transmissable. And people on this board think he has the right to decide whether he is assymptomatic. He was told not to travel how many times? And he disobeyed orders not to travel because he was worried about his own life in Italy? And there are posters who admire his daring at eluding the Italian authorities...what if you had been on that plane next to him and had to endure testing and a possible death sentence?

I don't admire him. He told them from January that his wedding was in Greece in May, and that he was honeymooning in Italy afterwards. They actually scheduled his treatment in Denver for after the honeymoon. Does that sound like they thought he wasn't going?

He has never had any symptoms. They found out he had TB by accident.

He was never told not to travel. He was told that they preferred he not travel. He assumed it was for the sake of his own health, and repeatedly asked if he could not travel. No one told him he couldn't. Even now the papers and the CDC are saying he didn't break any laws, but that he "breached the contract of trust." Whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.

I would not have wanted to sit next to him. I am not thrilled that I have been walking around in the same city as him for 5 months, but I don't blame him completly. I think the CDC should have been doing their damn job all along instead of waiting until the media got wind of it.

 

[twinkiesmom]

<<He was never told not to travel. . >>

Your entire description sounds like defense attorney spin. No doubt the truth will come out in depositions when the fellow travelers sue him.

 

[angelmom]

<<He was never told not to travel. . >>

Your entire description sounds like defense attorney spin. No doubt the truth will come out in depositions when the fellow travelers sue him.

How is it spin when even the CDC admits they did not tell him he could not go to his wedding? They admit, in their own words, that they advised him that they "preferred he not travel." That he was not forbidden from travelling, but that he "breached the contract of trust." What does that mean???

He told them he was going. They never said, "You can't go."

 

[angelwngs]

http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/stories/2007/05/30/0531meshcdctb.html

I was looking at the updated map at the AJC link above.

This is one individual.

The media coverage is international.

Imagine one sick person causing this much chaos.

If it turns out that no one with whom he has come into contact becomes infected, look at the devistation the media has created for this man and his family.

In addition, look at 'the label' everyone who knows someone who flew on one of these flights will place on these passengers in the future.

There is no time limit on fear.

These poor people will be ostracized indefinately...

I remember as a young child, outside the doors of our church, shaking the hand of a man who was a member of our church. My father pulled me over to the side after the man shook my hand and Daddy told me that the man had TB and to never 'do that again'. This was my first battle in balancing Christianity...and self-preservation. I remember every future encounter that I had with this man and how nice I tried to be to him. Until the day this man died, it was very sad to me, to see other humans, including my own father, ostracize this person due to their own fears.

Is the media turning this man, his family and the other passengers onboard these plane into another Richard Jewel?? Surely, this could have been handled without international media attention.

 

[angelmom]

http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/stories/2007/05/30/0531meshcdctb.html

An Atlanta-area man infected with a potentially deadly form of tuberculosis has flown out of Atlanta once again-- this time in the custody of public health officials.

The man was moved overnight from Grady Memorial Hospital, hospital officials confirmed.

<snip>

The case, which has spawned an international health incident involving investigations in several countries, raises difficult questions about balancing the rights of an individual with the needs to protect the public, they said.

And while the man's current confinement shows the system eventually worked, the experts questioned whether more could have been done before he ever left Atlanta.

"I think this is going to be a lesson learned nationwide of the importance of local and county health departments being the front line of protection for the rest of the population," said Michael Greenberger, a law professor and director of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security.

The House Homeland Security Committee announced Tuesday it will hold a June 6 hearing examining health officials' response in the case.

<snip>

Lance said state and county health officials thought the man was departing at a later date, not on May 12 when he flew from Atlanta to Paris. "I think the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness did their job to the best of their ability," Lance said, but she added that "there probably needs to be a review" of the state's laws and procedures governing restricting an ill person's travel.

He noted that CDC officials are encouraged that the man continues to be "smear negative" which indicates he is at low risk of spreading the disease, that the man doesn't have any coughing or symptoms and that his wife continues to test negative for TB.

"I think that is reassuring," he said. "Those are encouraging findings."

 

[Autumn2004]

http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/stories/2007/05/30/0531meshcdctb.html

I was looking at the updated map at the AJC link above.

This is one individual.

The media coverage is international.

Imagine one sick person causing this much chaos.

If it turns out that no one with whom he has come into contact becomes infected, look at the devistation the media has created for this man and his family.

In addition, look at 'the label' everyone who knows someone who flew on one of these flights will place on these passengers in the future.

There is no time limit on fear.

These poor people will be ostracized indefinately...

I remember as a young child, outside the doors of our church, shaking the hand of a man who was a member of our church. My father pulled me over to the side after the man shook my hand and Daddy told me that the man had TB and to never 'do that again'. This was my first battle in balancing Christianity...and self-preservation. I remember every future encounter that I had with this man and how nice I tried to be to him. Until the day this man died, it was very sad to me, to see other humans, including my own father, ostracize this person due to their own fears.

Is the media turning this man, his family and the other passengers onboard these plane into another Richard Jewel?? Surely, this could have been handled without international media attention.

How is he going to be ostracized when they will not release his name? Nobody but those who treated him will know it. My husband works with someone with TB but he is under treatment and is supposedly not a risk. I admit it made us both nervous at first to hear of it but honestly with him being treated for it he is much safer than others who are not treated. I cant imagine them being that ostracized since with the privacy act you dont have to share with anyone if you have been exposed. Nobody in this day and age has to share their medical history.

 

[angelwngs]

How is he going to be ostracized when they will not release his name? Nobody but those who treated him will know it. My husband works with someone with TB but he is under treatment and is supposedly not a risk. I admit it made us both nervous at first to hear of it but honestly with him being treated for it he is much safer than others who are not treated. I cant imagine them being that ostracized since with the privacy act you dont have to share with anyone if you have been exposed. Nobody in this day and age has to share their medical history.

With the media hype, people who know him have already put two and two together... The only 'secret kept' is that there are no secrets... Everyone already knows and simply doesn't talk about the 'issues' surrounding the secret in front of the person it is about....

 

[Glow]

If nothing else some intrepid journalist will get the manifest from one of the flights this man took. Then his name can be found through process of elimination.

 

[Siren]

I am so tired of people defending the idiots of this world. This man could have infected hundreds of people with his actions. He has demonstrated willful disregard for others. It doesn't matter that he "turned himself in voluntarily," the damage was done. It's like trying to put the bullet back in the gun once its been fired. But his actions should be compared with shooting an AK47 into a crowd. If he only infects one other person, it is one too many AFTER he had been told to turn himself in to Italian authorities.

I just heard on NBC news that this man is a practicing attorney from Atlanta. I hope they keep him under armed guard until he tests negative. Then, and only then, should be be allowed to return to society.

 

[pedinurse]

http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/stories/2007/05/30/0531meshcdctb.html

I was looking at the updated map at the AJC link above.

This is one individual.

The media coverage is international.

Imagine one sick person causing this much chaos.

If it turns out that no one with whom he has come into contact becomes infected, look at the devistation the media has created for this man and his family.

In addition, look at 'the label' everyone who knows someone who flew on one of these flights will place on these passengers in the future.

There is no time limit on fear.

These poor people will be ostracized indefinately...

I remember as a young child, outside the doors of our church, shaking the hand of a man who was a member of our church. My father pulled me over to the side after the man shook my hand and Daddy told me that the man had TB and to never 'do that again'. This was my first battle in balancing Christianity...and self-preservation. I remember every future encounter that I had with this man and how nice I tried to be to him. Until the day this man died, it was very sad to me, to see other humans, including my own father, ostracize this person due to their own fears.

Is the media turning this man, his family and the other passengers onboard these plane into another Richard Jewel?? Surely, this could have been handled without international media attention.

in ususal tb they aren't limited or contagious after the first 2-3 weeks of treatment. if they are deemed ok to go out in public, it is ok to shake thier hand.
you guys wouldn't believe the number of people who have asymptomatic (latent) TB - a LOT of hispanics do, people in group homes, foster home kisd are at a higher risk. in addition, children who have been adopted from overseas have a HUGE increase in their risk for TB and many do have latent TB which requires lengthy treatment.

 

[pedinurse]

I am so tired of people defending the idiots of this world. This man could have infected hundreds of people with his actions. He has demonstrated willful disregard for others. It doesn't matter that he "turned himself in voluntarily," the damage was done. It's like trying to put the bullet back in the gun once its been fired. But his actions should be compared with shooting an AK47 into a crowd. If he only infects one other person, it is one too many AFTER he had been told to turn himself in to Italian authorities.

I just heard on NBC news that this man is a practicing attorney from Atlanta. I hope they keep him under armed guard until he tests negative. Then, and only then, should be be allowed to return to society.

Oh it is NOT! How can you compare terrorizing a crowd with a gun and killing them to a person who has HARD TO SPREAD latent TB?

The concern here - and why they are putting him under guard - is that it is a super resistant strain here that they do not want to risk - under any circumstances - getting out. That is it. The CDC is covering their own backside. You know, I think it is the CDC's fault for not being more on top of this before he left the country - I think they knew he was gone and didn't want to "deal" with it anymore (see it is a huge ordeal) so they told him to stay in italy. they knew it was a resistant strain - why did they suddenly freak out while he was out of the country. In reguards to him terrorizing people all I can say to that is "Oh please!"

 

[pedinurse]

If he's a practicing attourney, what do you want to bet that he got exposed making a jailhouse visit. The prisoner was then told that he had TB (they test them there) and then because he was in contact he got TB tested too and it ended up positive with the super bug. Poor dude.

 

[Buzz Mills]

The audacity of this azz to place literally 1,000's of people at risk.

He deserves to be hung out to dry. Typical azzhole attorney.

His name is Andrew Speaker, and he works with his father, who is also an attorney, in the Atlanta area.

Speaker Law Firm PC
4651 Roswell Road Northeast Suite D302, Atlanta, GA 30342
phone: (404) 531-9868
fax: (404) 531-9868
email: aspeaker@speakerlawfirm.com