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TB-infected man who flew to China still being located

A Taiwanese man who flew to Nanjing, China, via Hong Kong last Saturday while infected with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has yet to be located, an official at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

"We have the full cooperation of disease control officials in China," CDC deputy director Chou Chih-hao (周志浩) said. "One of our quarantine officers is already in China handling the case."

"The family of the man and his wife claim that they do not know his whereabouts," Chou said. "We are working with local authorities to track down the couple."

This is the nation's first documented violation of the ban against people with MDR and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) flying, Chou said. According to the law, the 55-year-old passenger surnamed Lee (李) can be fined between NT $10,000 and NT $150,000.

not liable

Although the man's wife also suffers from tuberculosis, she is not liable since she has not been shown to be infected with MDR-TB. Those who are in the "open" or infectious stages of common strains of tuberculosis are only banned from flights longer than eight hours.

The restrictions are in place to protect the health of fellow passengers even though the risk of catching the disease from a fellow passenger is slight, Chou said.

A computer system with passenger lists that will automatically index those who are known to be in the actively infectious period of TB will not come online until January next year, Chou said.

"We knew we would face criticism for enacting the ban ahead of the computer system's activation," Chou said, "but we did it because we hope that the ban and the fine alone will stop many -- although obviously not all -- TB patients who should not be flying."

two weeks

The typical tuberculosis patient only needs to take medication for two weeks before the bacteria level in their sputum becomes low enough for the patient to be considered non-infectious, Chou said.

"The process is significantly longer for MDR-TB patients and depends on the individual," Chou said. "XDR-TB patients take the longest of all to pass the `open' or infectious stage."

Those who were on Dragon Air flight KA435 to Hong Kong from Kaohsiung or on flight KA810 to Nanjing last Saturday can phone a special hotline, 1922, for further information. Those who are abroad can call the CDC directly with any queries, Chou said.

Three passengers and several of their family members have already gotten in touch with the CDC, Chu said.
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