Tue, Jan 19, 2010
CDC Says Other Passengers Not Likely Infected
Despite being on a "do not board" list from the CDC, a
passenger with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis (TB) was
allowed to board a US Airways flight 401 from PHL to SFO last
week. The man was only stopped when he attempted to board an
international flight at SFO.
Dr. Martin Cetron, CDC director for global migration and
quarantine said "When transmission does occur, it tends to occur on
long-haul flights [or more than eight hours]. Fortunately, we were
able to intercept this individual before they took the high-risk
flight."
Because the risk of transmission on the 6-hour flight is lower,
none of the other passengers have been contacted about the incident
by US Airways. Public health officials in San Francisco said
the man has a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis that is hard to
treat.
The CDC is working with the TSA and US Airways to determine
why the passenger was allowed on at all. According to
reports, USAir was provided the list 14 hours prior to the
flight.
"When DHS was provided the do-not-board information from CDC,
TSA quickly followed proper protocol and made this information
available to airlines," TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee told CNN.
TB is one of nine diseases, including SARS, which can get a
person on the "do not board" list issued by the CDC. Only 88
names have been on the list since its creation in June
2007.
ANN previously reported on the case of Andrew Speaker that
prompted the creation of the special medical disqualification list.
Speaker sparked an international health scare when he traveled to
Italy and Canada after being diagnosed with TB and told not to
fly.
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