TB Patient's father in law works at the CDC- as a microbiologist

[NightWatcher]

and a TB researcher.

Holy crap, this story just got interesting.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18960857/
<snip>
ATLANTA - The father-in-law of the tuberculosis patient under the first federal quarantine since 1963 works as a microbiologist at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory that studies TB and other bacterial infections.
Bob Cooksey said he gave his 31-year-old son-in-law, attorney Andrew Speaker, “fatherly advice” when he learned he contracted the disease.

[TahitiNut]

1. Yep ... I found that noteworthy as well. What're the chances??

I have to wonder whether there're some marital issues ... and whether the wife has an overprotective daddy. It's the stuff of mystery/detective novels.

[acmavm]

5. OMG, I'm glad that you 'said' what I was thinking. I was kind of

wondering if I was the only one who was so jaded that I thought about it.

[TahitiNut]

9. Well, what're the chances? How much can we believe in coincidence?

His father-in-law is not just *any* microbiologist - he actually specializes in the (rare!!) "Super-TB" that this guy has. I'm just not inclined to regard both one-in-a-million chances in combination as being mere chance. It's just too, too bizarre.

[originalpckelly]

36. Well, it might just be that the father has the ability to carry TB.

Accidents do happen, people are not perfect.

I don't think the dad would use such an obvious method, though. It looks too suspicious.

I'd say that this is an accident that the CDC doesn't want to tell us about.

[LisaL]

41. Obvious method for what? The guy traveled to Asia.

He probably caught it there.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. So the FiL

tried to off him with a very slow-acting bacterium that would also endanger his daughter, as well as anyone else he came in contact with? Doesn't seem likely.

Also, we need to know more about the FiL's actual job. Does he work on tuberculosis? They say he works in a division that deals with tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. There are hundreds of other things he could work on.

[NightWatcher]

12. yes, the fil said that he works on TB

amongst other things.

I think his actions are criminal, be they neglect or overt. He even "gave him fatherly advice" when he found out that the sil had contracted it.

[Sequoia]

16. This father in law must be a liar.

Works for the CDC and on TB and says he didn't do it. I'd be looking at him real close if I were the investigators.

By the way, what about that other TB man who also got married but is in a jail? Whatever happened to him and his story.

[TahitiNut]

14. Well, the fact that the SiL was traveling abroad seems to be interesting as well.

Since the FiL is an expert, I'd guess he's far more expert on how communicable the TB bacterium is and how resistent his daughter might be than either you or I.

:shrug: Again, just how much can be sheer coincidence? On a planet of 6 billion, a one-in-a-trillion chance seems to stretch gullibility.

[originalpckelly]

34. Yes, I think this is a big stinkin' fish. It smells to hog heaven.

This is just too fucking co-incidental to be a co-incidence.

[WinkyDink]

21. But TB Guy was told NOT to go to Europe for his wedding. He went ANYWAY.

[originalpckelly]

29. I wonder about the father. Maybe he has been carrying it.

Maybe somehow he became infected and is acting as a carrier. You just don't get XDR TB out of nowhere, there has to be a contact somewhere that he was infected by.

[kestrel91316]

46. People who work in labs with the TB bacterium are routinely tested

for occupational exposure as a basic common-sense measure and to verify that safe lab technique is being followed. If the father had contracted TB in his workplace, we'd already know about it, I am confident. he certainly wouldn't be an asymptomatic carrier for long without his employer knowing about it and REQUIRING THAT HE GET TREATED TO AVOID SCREWING UP LAB TESTS WITH HIS OWN DISEASE.

CDC are medical professionals, not bumbling morons.

[BikeWriter]

17. ...or soap operas!

[mzmolly]

25. Jeez, I hear ya!

:tinfoilhat: And, this guy will be the first ever to undergo a new surgical technique?

[SharonRB]

2. What can I say?

That is bizarre.

[IChing]

3. I wondered when the CDC would come into play with this

since he was from Georgia. I sarcastically suggested Fort Detrick in the other thread

[jollyreaper2112]

4. anyone remember the string of dead microbiologists?

Hmm.

[havocmom]

39. THAT was the first thing to cross my mind on hearing this on the news!

Makes one wonder what microbiologists might have been asked to work on, who balked, who threatened to talk, who ended up dead under strange circumstances and now one with a SiL who catches the very same bad cooties he works on? Sounds like a threat to me. Somebody telling the microbiologist they can get to him and his?

Only DEMs and junta critics got anthrax and all those dead microbiologists....

Yeah, Hmmmm.

[kestrel91316]

6. You can bet that the CDC is looking very closely at this "coincidence"

in trying to determine how he caught it.

Did he maybe get an escorted tour of the lab where FIL worked, and maybe got exposed through carelessness or entry into areas where he shouldn't have been???

It's just idle speculation on my part, of course.....

[originalpckelly]

30. I know, it is a *little* too much of a "co-incidence" to be a co-incidence...

Father may be a carrier of some type.

[kestrel91316]

45. The FIL is not the source. He has said (and I believe him) that he

has NEVER had TB (employees there get tested at least once a year, and in light of this I bet he has been tested VERY recently).

Did the victim get a TOUR of the facility EVER???

He spent time in SE Asia, and that may very well be where he picked it up.......

[helderheid]

7. Think maybe his father-in-law never approved??

Eeek that is so weird!

[Ediacara]

8. Hmmm so he possibly got TB from the FiL, or maybe the FiL's pressure is what..

..is delaying criminal charges?

[NightWatcher]

11. how has the fil not been quarantined?

I think that fil is the link between what might be a super strain and the world population thanks to his new sil. One guy might have exposed the USA, Europe, and Canada to a drug resistant strain of TB. I hope that it was not a "weaponized" version of TB.



duct tape, plastic.........

[Ediacara]

13. Good question

I think in the next few days it will come out that the FiL is being questioned by police.

[watrwefitinfor]

15. "I hope that it was not a 'weaponized' version of TB."

Think we might have a winner, here.

Super bad, drug resistant TB has been around awhile, I remember seeing news reports on it in hospitals and prisons at least ten years ago. Telling me none of those people ever got on an airplane? Why go apeshit over this version?

Wat

[TheWraith]

20. Tuberculosis can't, to my knowledge, be weaponized.

Its rate of hostile infection is so low compared to the number of people who never develop symptoms, that it's basically impossible to use as a bio-weapon. Besides which, the CDC doesn't weaponize pathological agents, even back when we had a bio-warfare program in the US.

Anyway, the reason this thing has become so big is simply because of the quarantine and the resultant media exposure. It's possible that the quarantine was largely punitive, in retaliation for his flying against doctors advice, or it may be because they have some suspicions about the circumstances under which he contracted the disease. If they hadn't quarantined him, this would never have been a noticible issue.

[kestrel91316]

50. The guy with TB is not being quarantined, he's in medical isolation.

Quarantine is what they would call it if they slapped all the people he sat next to on the plane into hospital beds without outside contact until they were sure they didn't catch it.

Isolation is what they do when you actually are proven to have it.

Just a medical terminology issue.....

BTW, he proved that he was not interested in protecting the community's health by gallivanting all over Europe knowing that he had MDR TB at the least, and XDR after they contacted him in Rome. It's no different than locking up an HIV positive hooker who PERSISTS in having random unprotected sex with unsuspecting johns. Health departments rely for the most part on VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE with their safety recommendations, and the vast majority of people have enough of a SOCIAL CONSCIENCE that it's unthinkable to go against what they are told. When they ignore advice and public safety, they are a danger and MUST be confined.

This guy looks to me like a self-centered jerk who lacks any semblance of a social conscience. If he's a VERY GOOD BOY from now on, they may lift their isolation order and give him a little freedom, WITH RULES.

[originalpckelly]

31. Yes, I know, it's no more contagious or virulent than regular TB...

it just is resistant to the drugs that usually treat it. Anyway, the CDC is not involved in bio-weapons. Fort Detrick is/was.

[havocmom]

40. Hey, the neocons may have figured a way outta paying Social Security

Still thinkin on all those dead microbiologists over the past few years....

Contaminated foods. TB (in the nastiest form) on a plane. All variations on the theme of giving the natives pox infected blankets?

Can't help but wonder if somebody doesn't want a bunch of us peasants off their future golf resorts!

[kestrel91316]

47. Why on earth would the FIL need to be quarantined?? A simple

Tb skin test, if negative, would indicate he's never even been exposed.

Don't be ridiculous.

[librechik]

18. chill went down my back at that

too eerie--and the father's statement seemed odd, too, and forced.

[kestrel91316]

51. I saw the father give his statement - he looked pretty upset (probably

because of irresponsible speculation that HE did some deliberately or negligently to cause this) and was obviously uncomfortable speaking in public. As someone who gets very nervous speaking publically, I can totally relate!

[RevCheesehead]

19. Setting aside speculations for a minute...

This just makes me angrier and angrier. I mean, this guy ends up with TB, is advised to NOT fly, and gets "fatherly advice" from his FIL, who most certainly would have told him NOT to fly...
...and this asshole does what he wants, anyways??? :grr:

If anyone dies from this, he should be charged with reckless homicide.

[blondie58]

27. And what is even more criminal

is that when he was in Europe (Rome), he received a call telling him that it was an extremely dangerous strain and that he should surrender himself to the health authorities there.

Instead he flew to CANADA to evade suspicion and came over the border that way. Being a lawyer, you would think that he would know better to endanger others. What a selfish, selfish man.

[kestrel91316]

52. He is completely lacking in any shred of a social conscience, that's

obvious.

Betcha he's a Libertarian or other RW freak who is really big on free markets instead of "big government". But the free markets do an abysmal job at public health, lol.

It was obviously ALL ABOUT MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME and my money and what I want, with this guy. I wonder if he told the local health department head (who told him in a formal meeting NOT to travel) to go fuck himself......

[WinkyDink]

22. Excuse me, but you get "fatherly advice" when you get ready to pick up your prom date.

NOT WHEN YOU CONTRACT MAYBE-FATAL TB, that your FIL JUST HAPPENS TO BE AN EXPERT ON!

OMG, this is so Poirot territory!

[kestrel91316]

53. I suspect the fatherly advice was to DO WHAT THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT

TOLD HIM TO DO. Period.

[murloc]

23. Im not entire sure what conclusion to draw..BUT

IMO it isnt a coincidence.

How many people have contracted "Super TB"? How many researchers specialize in it?

The odds of this being totally random coincidence are in the trillions.

Madame Curie specialized in researching radioactive elements. She died of Radioactive poisoning. That wasnt a coincidence and neither is this event.

[murloc]

24. dup

[bettyellen]

26. the quarantine is infamously mind numbing a CDC researcher lied after being exposed to Ebola

and monitored himself instead. they were worried they had a mutant airborne strain of ebola and he was pin pricked... but the researcher walked among us without giving anyone the heads up and i guess we're all grateful he didn;t come down with anything. the hot zone scared the crap out of me.

[WinkyDink]

32. "The Hot Zone" is awesome, brilliant writing.

[CottonBear]

48. That book is awesome and terrifying... n/t

[TalkingDog]

28. My take was completely different: 12th Monkey different.

There was a recorded conference where the scientists in attendence cheered when it was suggested that humans were the scourge devestating the planet and that things would begin to balance with the onset of the inevitable plague.

I'll have to see if I can find the link to the story, but that was actually the first thing that popped into my head when I heard about the F-I-L.

Just being paranoid.... but a super drug resistant TB that has mutated to be highly communicable would constitute a severe national emergency would it not?

[originalpckelly]

33. You assume that's what it is. It is no more communicable than regular TB...

it is only more drug resistant. The bacterium have evolved to survive the use of antibiotics, not a new method of transmission.

[havocmom]

42. Doesn't need a new method of transmission in a nation where many are without health care access

How many will have the damn stuff, not know it because they can't go to a doctor and HAVE to keep going out and about to work and keep a roof over their families heads?

The ultra-rich want us off their planet. I am more convinced every day.

[TalkingDog]

43. Ummmm..... IRTFA...... I understand the parameters of the disease.

I assumed nothing. I was merely speculating. Pondering. Cogitating.

If you've seen the movie the 12th monkey, subversives send out a suicider to spread a virulent disease to cull the population. They start with airports, which is the most logical choice.

If you've been reading the news, you'll also know that Shrub has given himself extraordinary powers in case of a severe national emergency.

I'm just throwing out random bits of information that popped into my head when I read the story. I'm not attempting to make a case for any one argument or idea.

But thanks for asking.





My favorite Future Famous Dead Artist: KarenParker

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

54. It was an unrecorded conference...

and the whole thing was heresay from a creationist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mims-Pianka_controversy

[TalkingDog]

57. Thanks and Ramen! n/t

[TalkingDog]

58. Yes, Prison Planet....That was the site. Thanks again. n/t

[tyedyeto]

35. Does this guy count as the first quarantined TB patient in years?????

27-year-old Robert Daniels is being held against his will in a Phoenix hospital ward reserved for sick prisoners. If state officials have their way, he could be there for the rest of his life. Daniels is suffering from a deadly strain of tuberculosis known as XDR-TB. Doctors say he is virtually untreatable. He has been forced to live in a hospital cell in complete isolation.
Daniels contracted the disease while living in Russia. He returned to the United States last year and agreed to a voluntary quarantine in residential care. But Daniels violated his agreement when he went outside without a mask. Daniels says he misunderstood how much of a health risk he posed, in part because he hadn't been forced to wear a mask in Russia.

Today, Daniels has been forced to live in a hospital cell in complete isolation. His only visitors are medical staff. Sheriff's deputies have taken away his television, radio, phone and computer. He is under 24-hour surveillance and the light in his room is never turned off, even at night. His only contact to the outside world is a pay-phone. Daniels recently described his ordeal in a phone interview with the Arizona radio station KJZZ.

[originalpckelly]

37. He's the first quarantined by the federal government in that amount of time.

That's the difference.

[tyedyeto]

38. Is the man from Georgia subject to the restrictions

in my link?

This case may be more newsworthy but the earlier case shows what lengths the state level will go to to forbid communication by these types of patients.

[kestrel91316]

55. I happen to think the denial of communication via electronic media

in this particular case is completely unwarranted, vicious, and bordering on insane.

Give the guy a radio and a phone at the very least. TV and computer/internet are more expensive, and thus might be considered luxuries. But to hold him incommunicado and in sensory deprivation with the constant light on (isn't that TORTURE??) is really crazy. Cruel and unusual punishment.

[12345]

56. curious that he gave an interview, and then they decided to

move him to colorado incommunicado. maybe i have the tiimeline wrong, but is it punishment for telling his story?

[CanonRay]

44. I DO NOT believe in coincidences THIS big.

There's got to be something more to this.

[CottonBear]

49. This guy is a fellow UGA grad. A Law school grad no less. What a moran.

I am appalled at his behavior. What an idiot. :grr: