A man who knew he had a dangerous, drug-resistant form of tuberculosis flew from Atlanta to Paris so he could go ahead with his wedding in Greece, and then, when health officials "ordered him into isolation, saying he should turn himself over to Italian officials," he instead "flew from Prague to Montreal on May 24 aboard Czech Air Flight 0104, then drove into the United States at the Champlain, N.Y., border crossing," because he was "afraid that if he didn't get back to the U.S., he wouldn't get the treatment he needed to survive."
Washington Post article here.
In case you thought he had a mere bloody cough, note that he has XDR-TB, a form of TB that has a significant fatality rate.
5.30.2007
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2 comments:
In the guy's defense, they knew he had a nasty strain of TB before he left the country, and didn't [he claims] stop him then. Plus, i$f someone phoned you on your honeymoon, how ready would you be to jump into isolation in a foreign country?
He could have handled it better himself though. If it were me, I might not have turned myself in either, but I'd not have dodged to Prague and Montreal, and I'd sure as h__l have worn a mask.
And this is precisely why this is how we are all going to die of a horrible disease some day: the natural inclination is to get yourself (or your loved ones) somewhere where they can get top-notch medical treatment, i.e., the US (or at least some Western industrial nation), and all restrictions on travel be damned.
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