Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Drug-resistant TB case prompts international alert

Drug-resistant TB case prompts international alert
By Brian Knowlton
Copyright by Bloomberg News
Published: May 29, 2007

WASHINGTON: Public health officials on Tuesday urged the passengers and crew of two recent trans-Atlantic flights to get checked for tuberculosis, after learning that a man with an exceptionally drug-resistant form of the disease had flown on the planes.

The man, an American who was not identified, flew on May 12 from Atlanta to Paris aboard Air France Flight 385, then traveled on May 24 from Prague to Montreal aboard Czech Air Flight 410 before driving back to the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced. He is currently hospitalized in an isolation ward.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, announced the matter.

While tuberculosis is not highly transmissible, the deadliness of this strain - and the ease of modern transportation - underscored the need for rapid response, as with the SARS epidemic.

A federal quarantine order was issued - the first since 1963 - and the CDC is working with state and local health departments, airline officials, international health ministries and the World Health Organization, Gerberding said, according to Bloomberg News.

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