Man With Tuberculosis Flys From Philadelphia to San Francisco

Boston (DbTechNo) - A man known to have tuberculosis was able to board a plane in Philadelphia and fly to San Francisco despite being on a list barring him from air travel.

The man, whose name is being withheld flew on US Airways flight 401 from Philadelphia to San Francisco on Saturday.

How he was able to board the plane is anybody’s guess, but once the plane landed, he was wisked away to a nearby hospital.

“Although we never like to see people with contagious tuberculosis flying on commercial airlines … the risk on flights that are less than eight hours in duration is exceedingly small,” said Dr. Martin Cetron, CDC’s director of global migration and quarantine.

TB is spread through the air, meaning that those sitting near to the infected man would be at risk of contracting the virus from him.

Cetron says that since 2007 88 passengers have been placed on the “do not board” list” due to a communicable disease, and those who have recovered have been removed.