I've had it with this muthafucking XDR-TB on this muthafucking plane!

pO157.

Posted to Legal on Fri Jun 01, 2007 at 07:48:12 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

The news services have been abuzz recently with the story of a man identified as laywer Andrew Speaker. He is said to be involuntarily quarantined after becoming infected with a type of tuberculosis (XDR-TB) which is quite scary due to its extensive drug resistance.

XDR-TB, while a major problem in other countries, is quite rare in the industrialized world, including the United States. Because of this, the CDC has strict guidelines about treatment which has lead to similar stories occurring previously. However, this case has some interesting twists and turns which make it unique. It is spread, like other types of TB, simply by being exposed to an infectious carrier in a confined space for an extended period of time. This can occur by being in an airplane for several hours sitting near to an infected individual.

The patient which has caused all of this media attention was apparently one such individual who was warned by his caregivers that he had contracted a highly resistant form of tuberculosis and advised to avoid large gatherings and not travel. Instead, he then took 3 flights to and around Europe to get married and go on a honeymoon two days later. At this point the CDC caught up to him in Rome, told him he had XDR-TB and asked he turn himself into a local hospital or the US consulate. Instead, he then took several more flights to Canada and re-entered the United States via a small land border crossing in upstate NY because he was told he was put on a no-fly list and his passport flagged. Surprisingly, he was not halted by US Customs at the border causing concerns by Senator Schumer (D-NY):

Shows that something is wrong with the training and supervision of our border agents. We put all this time and effort into identifying those who shouldn't enter our country, but what good is it if it can be brushed aside by a border guard? I shudder to think that this individual could have been a terrorist.

The patient then traveled on his own to a hospital in New York City where he was then found by the CDC and transported to their facility in Atlanta, Georgia under armed guard and the first federal involuntary quarantine order since 1963. At this point they began the process of retracing his steps and attempting to notify the 110+ people he potentially exposed to XDR-TB on his flights.

Of course, with the current worry about 'bird flu' and world ending plagues being transmitted by planes this caused some serious debate among interested parties. While some of the blame is being assigned to the carrier by pundits, other places such as a weak quarantine law. According to Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University, if the patient had challenged the quarantine order "he would probably win in court." Mr. Gostin is advocating for an update to isolation laws and allowing the CDC access to passenger manifests to track potentially exposed travelers faster.  

As for the patient ID'd as Mr. Speaker, he was said to be transferred to a specialty hospital in Colorado on a CDC charter along with his wife and armed federal marshals. Sources say he will be likely be kept in isolation for an extended period of time until his health situation changes, although he broke no laws in his worldwide jaunts and will not be charged with any crime.