Short for "GeologicalScienceBlog", subjects will include Geology, Climatology, Environmental Science, NASCAR, Beer, Property Rights, Politics from a Christian Conservative/Libertarian viewpoint, and random thoughts. My background is two degrees in Geology (BS, MS), 8 years of geology/environmental employment and almost 8 years of teaching Geology and Environmental Science on a Junior College level. <68>

Friday, June 01, 2007

TB or Not TB, That is the Question

[Sorry, I couldn't resist using this line.]

It seems that Typhoid Mary (Oops, Andrew Speaker) thought that since the CDC didn't hire Guido the Enforcer to prevent him from flying overseas, it would be OK to go. I guess rules and considerations for the health of others are beyond his concerns.

So, on the one hand, the CDC told him they would "rather he not" travel, but they didn't say he couldn't.

Then they send him a message in Europe to not travel.

Now they are saying he is asymptomatic and unlikely to have been contagious. OK, I'm a little confused.

From the above-linked WSB-TV website article:

"...Speaker, 31, said he, his doctors and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all knew he had TB before he flew to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon last month. But he said he was told that he wasn't contagious or a danger to anyone. Officials said they would rather he didn't fly but didn't forbid it, he said.

His father, also a lawyer, taped that meeting, he said.

"My father said, 'OK, now are you saying, prefer not to go on the trip because he's a risk to anybody, or are you simply saying that to cover yourself?' And they said, we have to tell you that to cover ourself, but he's not a risk.""

It just seems to me that if the CDC was really trying to cover their collective asses, they would have said "For the good of everyone, just stay here." [Besides, flying off to Europe to get married contributes to Global Warming, or so Al Gore would tell you, as he boards his plane.]

Continuing:

"Speaker, his new wife and her 8-year-old daughter were already in Europe for the wedding when the CDC contacted him and told him to turn himself in immediately at a clinic there and not take another commercial flight."...

Talk about closing the barn door after the horse escapes!

Another clarification of part of the timeline:

"...May 12, Speaker flew from Atlanta to Paris. On May 18, after flying from Paris to Greece for his wedding and then to Italy for his honeymoon, Speaker received a call from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advising him not to travel.

Despite the warning and a second one from the CDC not to fly on commercial planes, Speaker flew from Prague to Montreal May 24, and drove to the United States. He checked into a New York City hospital May 25. Three days later, he was flown on a CDC plane to Atlanta, where he was placed under government-ordered isolation."...

Now they are saying that, while a concern, this is really not worth the hysteria.

"...The case of the globe-trotting TB patient has sparked concern all over the world. But while some, especially those who flew with Speaker, worry about potentially contracting the potentially deadly disease, ABC News medical editor Dr. Tim Johnson said the risk of anyone coming down with TB is very low.

"We have learned from the CDC that the risk appears to be low, because the patient is asymptomatic and is not coughing and spewing out germs. He is also smear-negative, which means when you put a sputum sample under a microscope, it is not teeming with bacteria," Johnson said on "Good Morning America." "The risk is not zero, but it is low, which ought to be reassuring."...

So, is it is or is it ain't?

[Common Folk Using Common Sense has a good, thoughtworthy post on this subject. For some reason, Shamalama's Permalink and Trackback URLs didn't work on my computer, maybe the Permalink for this article will on your computer. If not, go to the link on the right margin. I don't know the origin of the problem.]

[Michelle Malkin also has a good post on this subject.]
Posted by: on-the-rocks / 6:15 PM
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