An Indian woman who flew to the United States carrying a rare and deadly form of tuberculosis may have infected countless numbers of unsuspecting people, Dr. Jane Orient, president of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, tells
Newsmax TV.
"This is extremely dangerous. She apparently has an active infection of XDR [extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis]," Orient said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"That's even worse than the multiple-drug resistant TB we've been seeing where it requires a very complicated toxic and expensive regimen with careful public health follow-up for two years or so.
"This is extremely drug resistant, which means it may actually be incurable. Not only this patient but people who were in contact with her, need to be under careful surveillance."
The woman, who has not been identified, arrived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in April, and spent time in Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee, the Centers for Disease Control said in a statement to
People magazine.
The CDC is now working with the airline the woman flew from India as well as public health departments around the country to interview and test those who came in contact with her.
The woman spent seven weeks in the U.S. before seeking treatment and being diagnosed, the CDC said. She is being treated at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Maryland and is in stable condition.
Orient — author of
"Your Doctor Is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Healthcare," published by Crown — said tuberculosis is particularly dangerous because it can be spread through the air. And on an airplane, that makes contact especially risky.
"TB is very contagious and is airborne. It's not just people who are sitting next to her, but air in the aircraft has to be recirculated," Orient said.
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