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As Usual, "It's All About Me" ..or at least about TB Man

Groom With TB Under Federal Quarantine


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May 30, 10:08 AM (ET)

By MIKE STOBBE

(AP) A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by...
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ATLANTA (AP) - A man with a form of tuberculosis so dangerous he is under the first U.S. government-ordered quarantine since 1963 told a newspaper he took one trans-Atlantic flight for his wedding and honeymoon and another because he feared for his life.

Hundreds of health authorities around the world are now scrambling to track down passengers who were seated near the man for testing, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie Gerberding said Wednesday.

"There are two aspects to this," Gerberding said. "One is, is the patient himself highly infectious? Fortunately, in this case, he's probably not. But the other piece is this bacteria is a very deadly bacteria. We just have to err on the side of caution."

Health officials said that the man had been advised not to fly and that he knew he could expose others when he boarded the jets from Atlanta to Paris, and later from Prague to Montreal.


The man, however, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that doctors didn't order him not to fly and only suggested he put off his long-planned wedding in Greece.

He knew he had a form of tuberculosis and that it was resistant to first-line drugs, but he didn't realize it could be so dangerous, he said.

"We headed off to Greece thinking everything's fine," said the man, who declined to be identified because of the stigma attached to his diagnosis.

He flew to Paris on May 12 aboard Air France Flight 385. While in Europe, health authorities reached him with the news that further tests had revealed his TB was a rare, "extensively drug-resistant" form, far more dangerous than he knew. They ordered him into isolation, saying he should turn himself over to Italian officials.

Instead, the man flew from Prague to Montreal on May 24 aboard Czech Air Flight 0104, then drove into the United States at the Champlain, N.Y., border crossing. He told the newspaper he was afraid that if he didn't get back to the U.S., he wouldn't get the treatment he needed to survive.

He is now at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital in respiratory isolation.

CDC officials have recommended medical exams for cabin crew members and passengers who sat within two rows of the man on the flights.

The other passengers are not considered at high risk of infection because tests indicated the amount of TB bacteria in the man was low, said Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine.

But Gerberding noted that U.S. health officials have had little experience with the "extensively drug-resistant" form. It's possible it may have different transmission patterns, she said. Officials simply don't know yet.

"We're thankful the patient was not in a highly infectious state, but we know the risk of transmission isn't zero, even with the fact that he didn't have symptoms and didn't appear to be coughing," Gerberding said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"We've got to really look at the people closest to him, get them skin tested."

Dr. Howard Njoo of the Public Health Agency of Canada said it appeared unlikely that the man spread the disease on the flight into Canada. Still the agency was working with U.S. officials to contact passengers who sat near him.

French health authorities have asked Air France-KLM (AKH) for lists of all passengers seated within two rows of the infected man, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Daniela Hupakova, a spokeswoman for the Czech airline CSA, said their flight crew underwent medical checks and are fine. The airline was contacting passengers and cooperating with Czech and foreign authorities, she said.

The man told the Journal-Constitution he was in Rome during his honeymoon when the CDC told him to turn himself in to Italian authorities to be isolated and be treated. The CDC told him he couldn't fly aboard commercial airliners.

"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.

He told the paper he and his wife decided to sneak back into the U.S. via Canada. He said he voluntarily went to a New York hospital, then was flown by the CDC to Atlanta.

He is not facing prosecution, health officials said.

"I'm a very well-educated, successful, intelligent person," he told the paper. "This is insane to me that I have an armed guard outside my door when I've cooperated with everything other than the whole solitary-confinement-in-Italy thing."

CDC officials told The Associated Press they could not immediately comment on the interview.

Health officials said the man's wife tested negative for TB before the trip and is not considered a public health risk. They said they don't know how the Georgia man was infected.

The quarantine order was the first since the government quarantined a patient with smallpox in 1963, according to the CDC.

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to person through the air. It usually affects the lungs and can lead to symptoms such as chest pain and coughing up blood. It kills nearly 2 million people each year worldwide.

Because of antibiotics and other measures, the TB rate in the United States has been falling for years. Last year, it hit an all-time low of 13,767 cases, or about 4.6 cases per 100,000 Americans.

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.

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.

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Associated Press writers Malcolm Ritter in New York and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
 
The real criminal thing is that he was allowed to get on a plane in the US after he was given a positive TB diagnosis. Incredibly stupid for him to even go overseas when he knew he had TB, and downright negligent for his doctor not to order him to stay home until all the tests were completed.
 

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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
If history is any indication, he'll probably wind up suing the airline, his doctor, Badger and Blade, the Surgeon General, Ray's Pizzeria, and the CDC.

The exact nature of the charges are currently being concocted.
 
Normally I'm quite against lawsuits, but I hope this man gets sued into the ground.

Doubt there's enough cash to make it worthwhile - rule one of litigation - don't sue an empty pocket.

I do think a period of jail would have the requisite general deterrent effect - not sure what the charge would be - assult, reckless endangerment or if the requisite criminal intent could be proven, but even charging someone and prosecuting - even if not successful would send a pretty strong message to others.
 
Now, now, that's a little excessive (but just a little:biggrin: ).

Seriously, this guy is a major #$%^ and needs to be made an example of - I wish we could put him in stocks or a pillory and subject him to public ridicule and throw rotten food at him. Alternately, we could just brand him!

While I'm making light of the appropriate punishment, this is a real issue - as someone who's lived in a city that has had to deal with SARS and who travels frequently, this is a very serious issue and we just got off lucky this time.
 

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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
Here is some footage of him purchasing his airline ticket.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ve37gVwxw[/YOUTUBE]
 
Groom With TB Under Federal Quarantine

May 30, 10:08 AM (ET)

By MIKE STOBBE

(AP) A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by...

...

He knew he had a form of tuberculosis and that it was resistant to first-line drugs, but he didn't realize it could be so dangerous, he said.

"We headed off to Greece thinking everything's fine," said the man,

...

"I'm a very well-educated, successful, intelligent person," he told the paper.


Apparently not.
 
This should come as no surprise to anyone.

TB Patient ID'd As Atlanta Lawyer


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May 31, 3:24 PM (ET)

By GREG BLUESTEIN

(AP) Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., is shown Wednesday May 30, 2007. An unidentified man with...
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ATLANTA (AP) - The honeymooner quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was identified Thursday as a 31-year-old Atlanta personal injury lawyer whose new father-in-law is a CDC microbiologist specializing in the spread of TB.

Bob Cooksey would not comment on whether he reported his son-in-law, 31-year-old Andrew Speaker, to federal health authorities. He said only that he gave Speaker "fatherly advice" when he learned the young man had contracted the disease.

In a statement issued through the CDC, Cooksey also said that neither he nor his CDC laboratory was the source of the TB bacteria that infected his son-in-law.

The CDC had no immediate comment on how the case came to the attention of federal health authorities.


"I'm hoping and praying that he's getting the proper treatment, that my daughter is holding up mentally and physically," Cooksey told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Had I known that my daughter was in any risk, I would not allow her to travel."

Speaker said in a newspaper interview that he knew he had TB when he flew from Atlanta to Europe in mid-May for his wedding and honeymoon, but that he did not find out until he was already in Rome that it was an extensively drug-resistant strain considered especially dangerous.

Despite warnings from federal health officials not to board another long flight, he flew home for treatment, fearing he wouldn't survive if he didn't reach the U.S., he said.

He was quarantined May 25, after his return from his honeymoon, in the first such action taken by the federal government since 1963.

On Thursday, he was flown from Atlanta to Denver, accompanied by his wife and federal marshals, to be treated at Denver's National Jewish Medical and Research Center.


(AP) This undated photo released by the University of Georgia School of Law on Thursday May 31, 2007...
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He looked healthy and tan when he arrived, and "he said he still felt fine," hospital spokesman William Allstetter said. The chief of the hospital's infectious-disease division said that he is optimistic Speaker can be cured, because he is believed to be in the early stages of the disease.

Doctors planned to begin treating him immediately with two antibiotics, one oral and one intravenous. He also will undergo a test to evaluate how infectious he is and a CT scan and lung X-ray, Allstetter said.

Doctors hope to also determine where he contracted the disease, which has been found around the world and exists in pockets in Russia and Asia.

He will be kept in a special unit with a ventilation system to prevent the escape of germs. "He may not leave that room much for several weeks," Allstetter said.

Cooksey works in the CDC's mycobacteriology laboratory branch. He has co-authored papers on diabetes and infectious diseases, including TB. He recently co-authored a report on a bacteria outbreak in bone marrow transplant and oncology patients in a hospital water supply.

"As part of my job, I am regularly tested for TB. I do not have TB, nor have I ever had TB," Cooksey said in a statement. "My son-in-law's TB did not originate from myself or the CDC's labs, which operate under the highest levels of biosecurity."

According to a biography posted on a Web site connected with Speaker's law firm, the young lawyer attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in finance, then attended University of Georgia's law school. He is in private practice with his father, Ted Speaker, an unsuccessful candidate for a judgeship in 2004.

Andrew Speaker recently moved from an upscale condominium complex in anticipation of his wedding, former neighbors said. He also wrote in an application to become a board member of his condo association that he was going to Vietnam for five weeks as part of the Rotary Club to act as an ambassador.

His wife, Sarah, is a third-law law student at Atlanta's Emory University.

"He's a great guy. Gregarious," said Pam Hood, a former neighbor. "He's a wonderful guy. Just a very, very pleasant man."

Health officials in North America and Europe are now trying to track down about 80 passengers who sat near him on the two trans-Atlantic flights, and they want passenger lists from four shorter flights he took while in Europe.

However, other passengers are not considered at high risk of infection because tests indicated the amount of TB bacteria in Speaker was low, said Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine.

Among those being tested are more than two dozen University of South Carolina Aiken students, school spokeswoman Jennifer Lake said. Two were apparently sitting near him, possibly in the same row, she said.

One of those students, Laney Wiggins, said she is awaiting her skin test results, expected Friday.

"I'm very nervous," Wiggins told The (Columbia) State newspaper. "It's kind of sad that this is overshadowing the wonderful time we had in Europe."

Speaker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wasn't coughing and that doctors initially did not order him not to fly and only suggested he put off his long-planned wedding. "We headed off to Greece thinking everything's fine," he told the newspaper.

Dr. Charles Daley, head of infectious disease at National Jewish Hospital, said the hospital has treated two other patients with what appears to be the same strain of TB since 2000. He said the patients had improved enough to be released.

"With drug-resistant tuberculosis, it's quite a challenge to treat this," Daley told CNN. "The cure rate that's been reported in other places is very low. It's about 30 percent for XDR-TB."

"This is a different patient, though. We're told that this is very early in the course, and most of the time when we get patients that it's very extensive and very far advanced. So I think we're more optimistic," he said. "We're aiming for cure. We know it's an uphill battle, but we hope to get there."

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Associated Press writers Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington; Mike Stobbe in Atlanta; and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report, along with AP news researcher Judy Ausuebel in New York.
 
You really hate lawyers, don't you Tim?

At any rate, this guy is clearly pretty darn self-centered. I would even agree with slime-ball. His father says the media is blowing it all out of proportion. I don't see that. It is pretty simple really. He had a serious infectious disease, and boarded a plane. Now, all kinds of people board planes with a cold. Not ideal, but understandable. But TB is not just a cold.

-Mo
 

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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
The guy admits he knew he was on a no fly list, and boarded the plane anyway.

Now he'll have us believe that despite his possessing a doctorate level degree, in law no less, he didn't understand his responsibilty.
 
Are you kidding me? He studies the effects of TB, gets TB, and deicdes that his honeymoon is more important than his life and the thousands of people that he came in contact with? I'm not an advocate of public stoning, but...:sod:
 
The guy admits he knew he was on a no fly list, and boarded the plane anyway.

Now he'll have us believe that despite his possessing a doctorate level degree, in law no less, he didn't understand his responsibilty.

Yeah. I just don't get it.

-Mo
 
Wow, what a... deck (Jeff Foxworthy clip? What Jeff Foxworthy clip?:whistling:). And the arrogance! It has been my experience that people that claim that
"I'm a very well-educated, successful, intelligent person,"
usually aren't. Anytime I hear this in a conversation, the red flags go up, and I look for escape routes. Only people unsure of themselves need to make such ostentatious declarations in public. Besides, actions speak louder than pedigrees, and so far they make him out to be a total... donkey.
 
I've got some recent experience with this.

My wife and three young children visited my wife's grandfather in the hospital. It was a short visit. They might have been in the room 30 minutes.

Some days later, the grandfather was diagnosed with TB.

The health department in his state was notified and got a list of everyone who had been to see him and where they lived. The health department notified the health department in our home state. We were required by law to come to the health department and be tested. No problem. Tests were negative.

The big ordeal was with the children.

My children are ages 4, 3, and 18 months. Their skin tests were all negative, but the health dept also required X-rays. One of the X-rays was inconclusive because the X-ray wasn't clear. So, they required us to go to a specialist in pediatric X-rays for another round.

Because of the age of the kids, the health department also required that they be medicated for TB anyway. However, they wouldn't just prescribe the medicine for us to administer. We had to go back several times a week for them to physically watch the kids take each and every dose of the medicine.

After weeks of medicine, the kids all got another skin test. Negative.

Better safe than sorry and all that, but this was an ordeal.
 
You really hate lawyers, don't you Tim?
-Mo

I guess that I came on WAY TOO strongly, in a negative way, regarding lawyers. I just generally hold the view that lawyers have over complicated life and that our legal system is in a mess. I believe that Tort reform regarding Personal Injury Lawsuits (and I will never change my view that these types of lawyers are absolute slimeballs), is long overdue but will never happen.

I can already see billboards popping up around Atlanta:
"If you or a loved one watched any flight arriving into Atlanta, you may be eligible for compensation. Just call 1-800 PARA SITE for a free consultation".

To the bulk of the hardworking, ethical and honest lawyers, I apologize.
 
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