China's General Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has issued a notice warning
passengers who were on the same flight with an American with a rare
form of tuberculosis (TB) of possible infections.
The patient flew from Atlanta to Paris by Air France Flight 385
on May 12, then flew from the Czech capital Prague to Montreal by
Czech Air Flight 0104 on May 24, and then drove to the United
States, according to the World Health Organization and the U.S.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
AQSIQ advised passengers on the above two flights, especially
those sitting close to the patient, to undergo a medical check as
soon as possible.
The World Health Organization said earlier the chances that the
man infected fellow passengers was small, but officials noted that
because of TB's long incubation time, it may be years before anyone
knows if the man infected anyone while traveling.
TB usually affects the lungs, and can lead to symptoms such as
chest pain and coughing up blood. It is caused by germs that are
spread through the air.
The man is believed to have a rare form of "extensively
drug-resistant" TB, which does not respond to at least three of six
classes of second-line drugs.
(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2007)