All About Me

A man with a form of tuberculosis so dangerous he is under the first U.S. government-ordered quarantine since 1963 had health officials around the world scrambling Wednesday to find passengers who sat near him on two trans-Atlantic flights.

Government ordered quarantine.

Sounds serious.

Health officials said the man had been advised not to fly and knew he could expose others when he boarded the jets from Atlanta to Paris, and later from Prague to Montreal.

Advised against flying.

So what does he do?

He takes a trans-Atlantic flight, then a circuitous route back home to avoid compliance with orders from the CDC to remain in Italy.

The man, however, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that doctors didn't order him not to fly and only suggested he put off his long-planned wedding in Greece.

Oh, that's different.

They never TOLD him NOT to fly, only advised against it.

Let's see.

They told him he had a potentially deadly form of TB that is resistant to the usual treatment protocol. So what does he do?

He boards a plane, with the potential to infect others.

They ordered him into isolation, saying he should turn himself over to Italian officials.

Instead, the man flew from Prague to Montreal on May 24 aboard Czech Air Flight 0104, then drove into the United States at Champlain, N.Y. He told the newspaper he was afraid that if he didn't get back to the U.S., he wouldn't get the treatment he needed to survive.

Nice guy.

After all, it's all about him.

UPDATE: Since writing this piece an associate has provided me with a link to another, similar situation. This drives home the point about how reckless TB man's actions really were.