A passenger was taken off of a U.S. Airways flight Saturday because he was thought to have turberculosis The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.
Flight 2846 was sitting on the tarmac at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport Friday two hours after arriving from Austin, when flight staff gave the victim a mask to cover his mouth with. A Phoenix passenger notified the flight's other passengers,and advised everyone to visit their medical professionals because they may have come into contact with the disease. The passenger was then escorted off the aircraft by medical officials.
"We've been notified about a health emergency aboard the aircraft," passenger Dean Davidson told CNN.
Davidson was shocked by the news. "I'm actually very concerned ," he told The Republic. "I can't imagine that others aren't becoming more concerned as we have more time to ponder what happened and the lack of information."
"The risk is greatest for people sitting two rows ahead of and two rows behind the individuals," Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. told CNN. "We don't have to worry about the blankets and seat rests and the like. It's how the air is transmitted and handled in the plane."
Schaffner went on to say, those vulnerable to the disease can get a TB skin test. Those who come down with the sickness are also required to consume medication for six to nine months.
"No infectious disease has been confirmed in the passenger," Karen Hunter, a center's for disease control and prevention spokeswoman told The Republic. "And even if a passenger had infectious TB, the duration of the flight was so short that there would likely be no risk of exposure to other passengers."
TB instances have been decreasing since 1992 according to the center for disease control CNN reported.
