posted
Perhaps daddy-in-law didn't like the lad his daughter chose to marry. Perhaps he was hoping he'd be able to stop the wedding, or get him overseas hoping that he would be stuck infected and not able to return to the country for adequate treatment! I find this an interesting coincidence that this man's father-in-law works for the CDC as a microbiologist who studies TB. Oh, and his daddy happens to be an attorney. If it is true that this guy infected with TB (also an attorney) knew about his infection and traveled anyway, he better start studying for his defense of neglectfully infecting others with TB!
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May 31, 2007 TB Patient Is Related to C.D.C. Expert on Disease
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR and JOHN HOLUSHA
The man infected with a dangerous and hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis, who potentially exposed several hundred airline passengers to the disease, is the son-in-law of a microbiologist who studies tuberculosis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
That disclosure came today after the man, identified as Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old personal-injury lawyer from Georgia, was escorted from Atlanta by federal marshals to a hospital in Denver that specializes in treating respiratory illnesses. He was wearing a mask to prevent transmission of the disease, as were the marshals escorting him.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement this afternoon that Mr. Speaker's father-in-law, Dr. Bob Cooksey, works for the C.D.C. in its division of tuberculosis elimination, where he studies the spread of tuberculosis and other bacteria.
But Dr. Cooksey insisted that neither he nor his laboratory was the source of Mr. Speaker's tuberculosis infection.
``I'm a research microbiologist in C.D.C.'s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, and my work does involve working with a wide range of organisms, including TB,'' he said in the statement. ``As part of my job, I am regularly tested for TB. I do not have TB, nor have I ever had TB. My son-in-law's TB did not originate from myself or the C.D.C.�s labs, which operate under the highest levels of biosecurity.''
Dr. Gwen Huitt, who is treating Mr. Speaker at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, said at a news conference this afternoon that Mr. Speaker had been placed in a negative-pressure room to inhibit the spread of germs while he undergoes diagnostic tests and antibiotic therapy.
Dr. Huitt said Mr. Speaker is likely to undergo treatment for ``weeks to months'' because of the difficulty of dealing with the extensively drug-resistant strain of the disease. So far, she said, he has no symptoms, is not coughing and is ``of low infectivity.''
``He's a young, healthy gentleman who was jogging every day and is quite fit and has no other health conditions,'' she said. ``So I'm very optimistic that we will be able to help him tremendously.''
Dr. Huitt would not comment on whether Dr. Cooksey's work could be connected to his son-in-law's illness, but she said that after examining his history, it seemed possible that Mr. Speaker may have caught the disease overseas.
``He's had some fairly extensive travel history over the past six years,'' she said. ``So at this point in time we don't have an idea where he has contracted this. He has traveled many places around the world.''
``Tuberculosis infects one-third of the world's population,'' she added, referring to the presence of any strain of tuberculosis bacteria in dormant form. ``This germ is very common.''
Mr. Speaker was the first patient to be placed in forced isolation by federal public health authorities in more than 40 years. He was isolated after he traveled to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon despite being advised that he had the disease. Health authorities said he posed a risk to airplane passengers, particularly on long trans-Atlantic flights.
Mr. Speaker has said that he was advised not to travel, but was not specifically forbidden to do so. The wedding and honeymoon had apparently been planned for a long time.
Dr. Huitt said Mr. Speaker's tuberculosis was discovered after he suffered an injury to his ribs and went to a hospital. After an X-ray examination, doctors noticed an abnormality in Mr. Speaker's lungs and referred him for further testing, which eventually revealed he had tuberculosis, although he had no noticeable symptoms.
William Allstetter, a spokesman for National Jewish, said he asked Mr. Speaker how he felt on arriving at the Denver hospital this morning, and he replied that he felt fine. ``He looked fine,'' Mr. Allstetter said.
Meanwhile, public health officials are trying to locate the passengers that sat closest to Mr. Speaker on the trans-Atlantic flights, who are said to be at the most risk for infection. They will be asked to undergo testing for presence of the disease.
Doctors have said Mr. Speaker's wife, who accompanied him on the private flight to Denver, apparently has not been infected.
Officials of the federal Centers for Disease Control said they contacted Mr. Speaker while he was on vacation in Italy after they learned that he carried the dangerous strain of the disease, and advised him to turn himself in to Italian health authorities.
Instead, he made his way to Prague, flew from there to Montreal, and then drove across the border into New York, to avoid being stranded outside the country by his name appearing on a United States no-fly list. Once in New York City, he was persuaded to go to a hospital, and has been cooperating with federal health authorities since then.
Posts: 339 | From nowhere | Registered: May 2007
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posted
Perhaps daddy-in-law didn't like the lad his daughter chose to marry. Perhaps he was hoping he'd be able to stop the wedding, or get him overseas hoping that he would be stuck infected and not able to return to the country for adequate treatment
If that were the case, then I would assume he didn't care about his daughter very much either....or the rest of his familys health.
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Posts: 9430 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
Isn't it all weird>? He didn't appear to be active. I got the paranoid thought that they did this on purpose to preface some kind of thing re Lyme- like if Blumenthal came out with stuff- I know I know- crazy!!!
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
i still say he knew before he left because his passport was flagged.
i would sue him out the yingyang. he sneaked into this country knowing full well that he put others at risk.
it was selfish, irresponsible, and the list goes on.
i hope the people on the plane sue his pants off...
he should be shot.........period
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
Sounds like the shoemakers' children going barefoot to me.
As a former nurse, I have no compassion toward the man. He had the intelligence to know better than to be that stupid and endanger other people.
Posts: 719 | From Delaware | Registered: Jan 2006
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savebabe
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9847
posted
Does anybody know what is happening to this man now? Did he have surgery or recover for extensive abx?
The news jumps around so fast,that they never seem to follow up many important stories.
Posts: 1603 | From ny | Registered: Aug 2006
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