CDC wants to test 107 air passengers; TB patient stayed in NYC 31 May 2007 Health officials around the world were scrambling Wednesday to find about 80 air passengers who sat near a man who spent three days in a New York City hospital with a form of tuberculosis so dangerous he is under the first U.S. government-ordered quarantinesince 1963. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie Gerberding said Wednesday that the CDC is working closely with airlines to find passengers who may have been exposed to the rare, dangerous strain. Health officials in France said they have asked Air France-KLM for passenger lists, and the Italian Health Ministry said it is tracing the man's movements. (Did the US allow the TB-infected man to travel so that a media-engendered 'outcry' for safety would 'force all international departures heading to the U.S. to submit information about all the passengers aboard the plane prior to take off?' See: DHS wants early passenger info 14 Jul 2006 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has submitted a proposal that will force all international departures heading to the U.S. to submit information about all the passengers aboard the plane prior to take off. Through the new plan, airlines could send the entire list of information on the flight and the people onboard up to 60 minutes before departure or through a constant relay system as passengers check in... The new proposals may also end the practice of international airlines having to screen their passengers against governmental "no fly" lists during check-in or boarding. Privacy laws in the European Union (EU) have prevented similar legislation being introduced before. In May, the highest court in the EU struck down a proposal to allow airlines to provide the DHS with extensive passenger information, such as fare payment details, phone numbers, and addresses. This directive is currently being redrafted.)
Report Says TSA Violated Privacy Law --Passengers Weren't Told That Brokers Provided Data to Screening Program in '04 22 Dec 2006 Secure Flight, the U.S. government's stalled program to screen domestic air passengers against terrorism watch lists, violated federal law during a crucial test phase, according to a report to be issued today by the Homeland Security Department's privacy office... TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said that he supports the use of Secure Flight and that his agency is working closely with other government officials to ensure it protects privacy. "We are working in a transparent way," Hawley said, adding that the agency's "challenging" goal is to roll out the program in 2008.
Secret DHS Agreement to Share Passenger Data in Violation of Agreements Is Confirmed (ACLU) 25 Apr 2006 The text of a secret agreement the Department of Homeland Security executed with the Centers for Disease Control to share airline passenger data confirms...that the U.S. government is distributing information that it explicitly promised it would not share... In 2003, the United States and the European Union reached an agreement under which the EU would share Passenger Name Record (PNR) data with the U.S., despite the lack of privacy laws in the United States adequate to ensure Europeans' privacy. In return, DHS agreed that the passenger data would not be used for any purpose other than preventing acts of terrorism or other serious crimes. It is now clear that DHS did not abide by that agreement.
Canadian authorities locate 16 of 28 passengers sought from TB exposure flight 30 May 2007 Public health officials in the United States and Canada revealed Wednesday they have narrowed down to roughly 70 to 80 the number of people on two recent transatlantic flights who were seated in close proximity to a man infected with a rare and potentially deadly form of tuberculosis. Canadian health authorities are trying to find anyone who sat in Row 12 - plus the two rows ahead and behind - of Czech Airline flight 0104 to Montreal from Prague on May 24. The man, who is infected with extensively drug resistant tuberculosis or XDR-TB, was seated in 12 C.
TB patient's father-in-law works at CDC lab --Infected man ID'd, taken to Denver hospital; others on 2 flights sought 31 May 2007 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.
DoD to 'augment civilian law' during pandemic or bioterror attack 11 May 2007 [b>Is Bush is getting ready to play the Bioterror Card?