Decrepit Old Fool

The movie Snakes On A Plane was campy and fun, and not at all scary.  But this IS scary: Microbes on a plane.  Epidemiologist Tara Smith (who would fit right in on CSI or Numb3rs)  describes the situation as a passenger was found to be infected with a highly resistant strain of tuberculosis.

)Deep Breath( … OK, calming down, the passengers were notified, and they’re getting tested.  It appears their risk of infection is “low”.  It’s still going to be a while before I get on a plane without thinking about this one. 

• There is some reassurance as Effect Measure gets technical on airplane epidemiology.

• Mike Dunford at Questionable Authority takes apart the passenger’s “side of the story” in Thou shalt not be bloody stupid
• Oh, NOW he says he’s “sorry”.  “At every turn it was conveyed to me that my family, my wife, my daughter, that no-one was at risk”  Well sure, but the doctors and authorities told you not to travel, idiot.
• And if you really want to research this case from every angle, The Pump Handle has a large section on it in their Friday roundup.
• Seen on TV news: the guy shows up at the US border.  The border guard scans his passport and the screen pops up: “Don’t let this person in, and only deal with him while wearing hazard gear”.  Border guard looks him over; “He appeared to be perfectly healthy to me”, and lets him enter the country unchallenged.  Reminds me of a scene from The Simpsons:
  Bob: [running a credit check] [presses `Enter’] [sirens wail and lights flash]
  Homer: Is that a good siren? Am I approved?
  Bob: You ever known a siren to be good? That was the computer telling me, sell the vehicle to this fellow and you’re out of business.’’