TB-tainted man crossed border 76 times

TB-tainted man crossed border 76 times
Travels, including flights, confirmed by federal documents

A Mexican national infected with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis crossed the U.S. border 76 times and took multiple domestic flights in the last year, according to Customs and Border Protection interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency was warned by health officials on April 16 that the frequent traveler was infected, but it took the Homeland Security officials more than six weeks to issue a May 31 alert to warn its own border inspectors, according to Homeland Security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Homeland Security took one more week to tell its own Transportation Security Agency.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR) is a highly contagious illness and also resistant to the two most commonly used drugs to treat TB. It is the same dangerous strain of tuberculosis that concerned health officials when Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old Atlanta lawyer, slipped into the U.S. from Europe via a flight to Canada.

A physician with the CDC says that they usually only notify flights that are eight hours or longer that passengers could have potentially been infected. But other physicians say the disease can be transmitted within minutes — especially in persons with lowered immunity — and recommend anyone coming in contact with this contagious illness seek medical attention.

The infected man identified as Amado Isidro Armendariz Amaya made at least one more trip across the U.S. border on May 21, where he applied for an I-94 visa to extend his stay in the U.S.

Roger Maier, spokesman with El Paso CBP, says the delay for issuing a "be on the lookout" (BOLO) alert to stop the man at the border was caused by the traveler's use of an alias.