This tells me that the Guv'mint has our best interests in mind... :P [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: completely agree with you. I learned last night that he already knew he had disease resistant TB before he even left the country. It was only after he left that it was discovered he had *extremely* drug resistant TB. Regular TB's bad enough, he knew he had a more dangerous version, yet left anyway. And as we all suspected, the CDC says they had no intention of forcing him to stay in Rome and get the wrong treatment. They were working on bringing him back to the States when he fled.
Again, I shudder to think would could have happened had his TB been more contagious, or if he'd been carrying a new strain of influenza. He may not have committed a crime, but I wouldn't complain if he were held financially culpable in some way. There's a lot of discussion in the health care and international circles aout why he wasn't *ordered* to stay home from the get-go. Evidently there's concern about limiting his personal freedom at that earlier stage. I guess there's fear of the social and legal ramifications and precedence set of ordering an American to stay home when his good judgement could do the same thing. And there was concern that the system in place which can order a person not to go anywhere would have triggered the very coverage and worry we're now seeing as it became known. But I guess in the future they might have to risk it... -------------- Original message -------------- From: "g123curious" The guy's doctor advised him NOT to fly. He decided to fly anyway. He flew twice. He didn't bother to buy travel insurance (which would have reimbursed him for the TOTAL of his trip: air, hotel, wedding, everything.) Some folks refuse to accept personal responsibility. Hence, I have no problem with him being locked up. IMHO, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one... especially when there's the risk of of a highly contagious TB infecting a lot of people. Many people have weak immune systems (e.g., the elderly, children, etc.). I travel a lot on cruise ships. It is standard procedure now.... ships will not let you board if you are sick. They'll give you a voucher to travel later. If you get sick while onboard, they'll quarantine you (and your spouse/family) in your cabin. It's a (brave) new world and people have to learn to adjust to it. Some choose to learn the hard way... and get locked up. George --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > This is wild. Every day, I drive by the hospital where "Typhoid Martin" is being held. The confusion here stems around what the CDC and county health officials say they told him, versus what *he* says they told him. I'm trying to understand why, if he's been diagnosed since January, the agencies just now found out he had XDR TB. Not understanding why, even with the less-virulent strains, the health officials only "suggested" he stay in the States, instead of making it an order. But then, the officials seem to be saying they ordered him to stay here. Also not getting why--assuming he's telling the truth--the CDC didn't make arrangements to fly him from Italy on a CDC jet. I have to assume they would have done something like that, since they'd want him cured to avoid an epidemic. > > Either way, while I get his fearing ineffectual treatment in Italy, I'm having a hard time with this man jumping on a trans-Atlantic flight, driving from Canada to the States while knowing he had the XDR version. At that point, he could have been extremely contagious. We could have been looking at a chain-reaction of infections if people on that plane, in the terminal, or at the car rental location had been infected by him. Hasn't he seen "Twelve Monkeys"?! > > Last year I participated in a seminar sponsored by the CDC here in Atlanta to come up with procedures for dealing with the next deadly worldwide flu pandemic. (And if you want nightmares, read about the flu pandemic of 1918). One of our major concerns was how health officials could track and warn infected people in this world of international travel. Scenarios exactly like this were discussed, where stubborn or fearful people defy orders and do their own thing. How far does the medical community go to issue quarantines to prevent epidemic? When do personal freedosm get abridged for the common good? This is exactly what we meant. Something broke down here. And just imagine if this guy had been infected with a deadly new mutation of influenza. Then we really could have been talking about an pandemic. That's scary... > > *************************************** > > Atlantan quarantined with deadly TB strain > CDC issues rare isolation order; air passengers warned > > By ALISON YOUNG > The Atlanta Journal-Constitution > Published on: 05/30/07 > An Atlanta-area man infected with a rare, potentially deadly type of tuberculosis is under federal quarantine at Grady Memorial Hospital with an armed sheriff's deputy outside his door following his odyssey on international flights, including some to smuggle himself back into the country. > The globe-trotting tale of the man, his fiancee, their wedding and honeymoon abroad and conflicting recollections of what he was told about his disease and whether he could travel culminated Tuesday with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing an international health alert. 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