Every story I’ve heard about the man in Federal quarantine is the dangerous strain of TB which he has.  Yet, how would anyone know if they came into contact with him since there’s no name or picture of the man.  The man was flying internationally to get married!  If he got married hasn’t he already spread the disease?  But you don’t need to worry cause TB man said he didn’t cough at all while flying all over the place.

A man placed under the first government-ordered quarantine since 1963 because of a dangerous form of tuberculosis said he took one trans-Atlantic flight for his wedding and honeymoon and another because he feared for his life, a newspaper reported.

snip…The man told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that while doctors told him they preferred that he put off his long-planned wedding in Greece, they didn’t order him not to fly.

snip…The 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, then drove into the United States at the Champlain, N.Y., border crossing.

He told the newspaper he flew into Canada in a successful attempt to avoid U.S. authorities. He said he believed he had to return to the U.S. to get the treatment he needed to survive.

He was potentially infectious at the time of the flights, so officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended medical exams for cabin crew members and passengers who sat within two rows of the man.

snip…The man told the Journal-Constitution the CDC contacted him in Rome during his honeymoon, telling him that he had 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. When he arrived back in the United States, he voluntarily went to a New York hospital, then was flown by the CDC to Atlanta. He is not facing prosecution, health officials said.

In case you’re not aware - TB is a highly infectious disease where the germs can be spread through the air. Does anyone else think this man’s identity should be revealed?

Technorati Tags: Tuberculosis, contagious diseases, communicable diseases, TB