CDC report on TB traveler urges more coordination

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Breaches in security that allowed a U.S. tuberculosis patient to defy health officials and fly to Europe and back in May can be at least partly fixed with faster communication and better training, according to a federal government report.

A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its handling of the matter shows a need for more coordination between airlines and federal agencies in such emergencies, including quick transmission of passenger information.

A copy of the "After Action Report" obtained by Reuters on

Thursday shows a lack of clear standard operating procedures allowed Atlanta lawyer Andrew Speaker to fly to Greece and Italy for his wedding and honeymoon against direct advice from authorities and then sneak back into the United States.

The report is part of a standard review process that the CDC makes after an incident.

Speaker, who was forcibly isolated and treated for what turned out to be multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, made last-minute changes to his itinerary after learning that state, local and federal health officials did not want him to travel.

He was the first person isolated under such a federal order since 1963.

CDC and health officials in several countries were forced to track down 246 airline passengers who sat close to Speaker for more than eight hours on transatlantic flights, test them twice for TB and then determine if the seven who tested positive both times could have been infected by Speaker. None were.