Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Border agent allowed TB patient in U.S.
Associated Press ^ | May 31, 2007 | GREG BLUESTEIN and DEVLIN BARRETT

Posted on 05/31/2007 4:28:06 PM PDT by Baladas

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last
To: n230099

LOL.......yep. Now they have the border agent working in administration. That ought to keep him out of trouble....NOT.


41 posted on 05/31/2007 5:25:40 PM PDT by tioga (Fred Thompson for President.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE
Go ahead, jump in the bitter Bush basher's line ...

If Bush would have put the effort and money into homeland security as he did to Iraq, this sort of thing wouldn't have happened.

42 posted on 05/31/2007 5:25:52 PM PDT by Prokopton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Baladas

But he did take away TB-guy’s travel size shampoo

>>A globe-trotting Atlanta lawyer with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was allowed back into the U.S. by a border inspector who disregarded a computer warning to stop him and don protective gear, officials said Thursday.


43 posted on 05/31/2007 5:27:52 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Baladas

I suspect making an executive decision like this is well above the border inspector’s pay grade. What a twit.

There’s no point in having safety nets to catch such travelers if the nets are going to be ignored.

Somebody save us from Homeland Security.


44 posted on 05/31/2007 5:37:06 PM PDT by abigailsmybaby (I was born with nothing. So far I have most of it left.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Letitring

By the time dad (and the patient) found out, the daughter had already had extensive exposure. Remember, this guy has been totally asymptomatic all along. His infection was detected only by accident, when he had a chest X-ray for some unrelated reason, and they noticed a worrisome spot on it. By that time, he would have been carrying the infection around for months (if not years), while having no idea he had it and no reason to limit his contact with other people. That’s why this whole hoopla is so ridiculously overblown. Those people on the airplanes weren’t exposed to anything that hundreds if not thousands of other people hadn’t previously been exposed to while in close proximity to this guy.


45 posted on 05/31/2007 5:37:40 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: BurbankKarl
But he did take away TB-guy’s travel size shampoo

No, TB-guy didn't have any shampoo. The airport security dudes had already taken it away from him.

46 posted on 05/31/2007 5:39:13 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: tioga

Yeah, now he MAKES the lists of travellers who should be stopped.


47 posted on 05/31/2007 5:40:00 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: STARWISE
“God bless President George W. Bush, damned .. no matter what he does.”

I supported Bush from his entry into the primaries in 1999, through all his many foibles including even his first couple of love fests with Kennedy and his attack on the 1st Amendment with McCain —

But, this last attempt of his to betray all of his supporters and destroy the Republican Party, for no good reason I can imagine or he can explain, is too much. I’d sooner vote for Osama bin Laden than vote for him again. At least bin Laden seems to be honest about his intentions.

48 posted on 05/31/2007 5:40:11 PM PDT by vetsvette (Bring Him Back)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Letitring

TB is just not that contagious. If somebody doesn’t have an infection advanced enough to make them cough, they’d be hard-pressed to transmit it even if they were trying. The bacteria can’t survive more than a few seconds outside the body, and you really have to inhale just-coughed droplets from the infected person to get infected yourself, and it’s not like you’d automatically get infected even if you did that. Witness the lack of transmission to his new wife.

It really would make no sense to confine people just because they test positive for TB. It makes sense to confine people if and while they are actively coughing and infected with any strain of TB. This guy, now that they know what kind he’s got, should probably just be confined to his home and instructed to wear a mask when other people are present.


49 posted on 05/31/2007 5:47:02 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Baladas

He`s a personal blame the other guy lawyer and they have him under quaratine? Well there goes our border patrol.


50 posted on 05/31/2007 5:47:14 PM PDT by Screamname (The only reason time exists is so everything doesn`t happen all at once - Albert Einstein)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Baladas

Hmmm...he’s a personal injury lawyer. He would be suing a guy like himself. Sometimes there is justice.


51 posted on 05/31/2007 5:48:34 PM PDT by kittymyrib
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BurbankKarl
TB-infected man identified, moved to Denver

International TB incident triggered by man's trip raises questions about governments' response; U.S. House to investigate

By ALISON YOUNG, MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/31/07

Good article, answers some of our questions.

52 posted on 05/31/2007 5:56:45 PM PDT by Buddy B (MSgt Retired-USAF)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentShrinker
If somebody doesn’t have an infection advanced enough to make them cough, they’d be hard-pressed to transmit it even if they were trying.

Are you saying swapping spit with your new bride is too remote to transmit TB?

53 posted on 05/31/2007 5:58:05 PM PDT by Drango (A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Baladas

I have some questions that hopefully can be answered by some FReepers who’ve followed this more closely.

How and when did he find out he had TB? I think I read that he found out in January, but I could be mistaken.

How and when did his fil find out?

How did he find out it was drug resistant? Did his fil give him medication, and it failed to work? Did he visit a doctor for treatment while on his honeymoon? Was he required to be tested for TB upon entry to one of his stops?

Who are the “federal health officials” who advised him not to board another flight? How did they find out he had TB? If these “federal health officials” are from the CDC, nevermind. I already know they’re refusing to answer the question.

If these “federal health officials” knew, why did they merely advise him not to board another flight? Why didn’t they do something to actually prevent him from boarding another flight? Did they really expect a spoiled brat to voluntarily remain in a foreign country indefinitely, to be quarantined and treated by “doctors” of socialized medicine?


54 posted on 05/31/2007 6:09:33 PM PDT by BykrBayb ("We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest." Þ)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Buddy B

Thank you. That does answer a few questions, creates a few more.


55 posted on 05/31/2007 6:10:53 PM PDT by Letitring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Baladas

The border patrol was shocked. Why start enforcing the border now? We’ve not done it before???


56 posted on 05/31/2007 6:12:33 PM PDT by Log
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentShrinker

What makes it so dangerous is the fact it’s almost untreatable. If his disease is not advanced, perhaps they can surgically remove the infected tissue, then treat with whatever drugs would be most effective.

I believe they will keep testing the wife, to make sure she remains okay.


57 posted on 05/31/2007 6:13:22 PM PDT by Letitring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Drango

It could happen, but with the level of infection this guy has, it’s unlikely and apparently has not happened (he’s had this infection for at least a few months, and I’m assuming he and his fiancee took up “swapping spit” quite some time before the wedding). Which is why the hysteria over the risk to people who sat near him on a commercial jetliner with a heavily filtered air circulation system is going way overboard.


58 posted on 05/31/2007 6:35:15 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Letitring

AIDS has a similar treatability problem, but the untreatability of a disease needs to be balanced with its transmissibility risk when deciding to quarantine people. Just because something is incurable and deadly once you’ve got it, doesn’t mean it’s easy to catch. With TB, it’s fairly easy to catch IF the person has an advanced infection that’s causing coughing — otherwise it’s pretty much the same as AIDS.


59 posted on 05/31/2007 6:38:36 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentShrinker

Nice talking with you about this, thanks for your input.


60 posted on 05/31/2007 6:57:47 PM PDT by Letitring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson