|
Pestilences: TB
|
John Henry
|
Aug 27, 2007 01:08 PDT
|
"For nation shall rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the
beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:7-8)
TB Case Brings Warning to Air Passengers
May 29, 2007
By Mike Stobbe
ATLANTA (AP) - A man with a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis
ignored doctors' advice and took two trans-Atlantic flights, leading to
the first U.S. government-ordered quarantine since 1963, health officials
said Tuesday. The man, whom officials did not identify, is at Atlanta's
Grady Memorial Hospital in respiratory isolation.
He was potentially infectious at the time of the flights, so officials at
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended medical exams
for cabin crew members on those flights, as well as passengers sitting in
the same rows or within two rows.
CDC officials did not release row numbers but said the airlines were
working with health officials to contact those passengers. Passengers who
should be tested will be contacted by health officials from their home
countries.
The infected man flew from Atlanta to Paris on May 12 aboard Air France
Flight 385. He returned to North America on May 24 aboard Czech Air
Flight 0104 from Prague to Montreal. The man then drove into the United
States at the Champlain, N.Y., border crossing.
The man told health officials he was not coughing during the flights.
Tests indicated the amount of TB bacteria in him was low, so passengers
are not considered to be at high risk of infection, said Dr. Martin
Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and
quarantine.
The man had been told by health officials in early May that he had a form
of TB that was resistant to first-line antibiotics and was advised not to
travel to Europe. "He was told traveling is against medical
advice," said Dr. Steven Katkowsky, director of the Fulton County
Department of Health & Wellness.
Health officials said they don't know how the Georgia man was
infected.
A CDC official reached the man by phone in Rome and told him not to take
commercial flights, but he flew back to North America anyway. "He
was told in no uncertain terms not to take a flight back," Cetron
said.
Cetron reached the man once he was back in the United States. At that
point, he voluntarily went to a New York hospital, then was flown by the
CDC to Atlanta, where he was issued the federal quarantine order. He is
not facing prosecution, health officials said.
The quarantine order was the first since 1963, when the government
quarantined a patient with smallpox, according to the CDC.
The man, who went on the trip with his wife, also traveled within Europe,
but CDC officials said they did not have information to release about
whether the trips were by plane, train or other public
transportation.
His wife tested negative for TB before the trip and is not considered a
public health risk, health officials said.
CDC officials said they are concentrating on investigating the
trans-Atlantic flights, when possibility of spread of the disease was
greatest because he was in a confined space with other people for many
hours.
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by germs that are spread from person to
person through the air. It usually affects the lungs and can lead to
symptoms such as chest pain and coughing up blood. It kills nearly 2
million people each year worldwide.
Because of antibiotics and other measures, the TB rate in the United
States has been falling for years. Last year, it hit an all-time low of
13,767 cases, or about 4.6 cases per 100,000 Americans.
Health officials worry about "multidrug-resistant" TB, which
can withstand the mainline antibiotics isoniazid and rifampin. The man
was infected with something even worse - "extensively
drug-resistant" TB, also called XDR-TB, which resists many drugs
used to treat the infection.
There have been 17 U.S. XDR-TB cases since 2000, according to CDC
statistics.
Three-quarters were people from foreign countries. One case was a Russian
man who arrived in Phoenix last year. He was jailed after he stopped
taking medications and went unmasked to a restaurant and other
businesses, threatening the health of others.
The CDC's statement that the patient is at the low end of communicability
"provides some reassurance," said Dr. William Schaffner,
chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt
University.
The highly dangerous form is "expanding around the world,"
particularly in South Africa, eastern Europe and the former states of the
Soviet Union, he said.
Source:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070530/D8PED4800.html
-----------------------------------
The Lord Jesus said, "... Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall
deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars:
see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew
24:4-8) The "sorrows" here are like those of a woman when
she about to delivered her child. God told Eve that He would
"greatly multiply [her] sorrow and [her] conception; in sorrow [she
would] bring forth children" (Genesis 3:16). Similarly a
"sign of [Christ's] coming, and of the end of the world"
(Matthew 24:3) will be as a woman's birth pains increase as time for
delivery nears. All five of the things in Matthew 24:4-7 (false
christs, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes) will be simultaneously
increasing as the time of the end draws near. Research shows that
this is in fact occurring in our lifetime.
Fair Use Notice: This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. The moderator is making it available in an effort to advance
understanding scriptural, political, and social justice issues, etc. The
moderator believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of this
copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material is
distributed without profit to those who have by subscribing to this
eGroup have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and
educational purposes. It must not be used for profit!
The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the
opinions of the moderator.TO
UNSUBSCRIBE GO TO:
http://groups.LandmarkBibleBaptist.net
ARCHIVED ON THE WEB AT:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Birth-Pains
|
|
 |
|
