actsnoblemartin
10-19-2007, 12:19 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071018/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/tb_mexican
By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Oct 18, 3:51 PM ET
WASHINGTON - For the second time this year, the federal government has failed to stop a man infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis from traveling in and out of the United States.
U.S. officials this spring were unable to catch a Mexican man infected with the disease because the doctor treating the man did not know his real name, according to a government official who was briefed on the incident but requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
In May, an Atlanta lawyer with the disease was able to travel internationally despite warnings from health officials.
This new example of a failure at the border is significant because it exposes a potential new weakness: U.S. reliance on foreign medical record keeping.
The Mexican national traveled to the United States 76 times in the past year, even though Mexican and U.S. authorities knew he was infected with a contagious strain of tuberculosis. However, the Mexican clinic that had been treating the man, which is affiliated with the Texas Health department, unknowingly provided a fake name to U.S. authorities, the official said. The Washington Times first reported the episode in Thursday's editions.
The man crossed the U.S. border 21 times between April 16 and May 31, using his real name and real travel documents, said Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Friel. The federal Centers for Disease Control would not provide the man's real or fake names for privacy reasons, but the official who was briefed on the case said his real name is Amado Amaya. Amaya took several flights in the U.S. between April and June, the official said.
Customs officials sent out a nationwide alert to look for the man on April 16, but officials were not able to catch him because the alert was for the man's pseudonym, Friel said.
On April 17, when Customs officials had no luck finding the man, they suspected they had the wrong information and alerted health officials. On May 31, the Mexican man revealed his real identity to his doctor in Mexico because of all the publicity surrounding Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker, who also was infected with the disease and evading authorities.
Amaya's associates and some family members have tried to enter the United States since May 31, but Customs officials made them go through additional inspections and tested them for the disease. None of them were infected and they were cleared to enter the U.S., the official said.
In May, Speaker was able to fly from Atlanta to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon despite warnings from public health officials. Once he was in Europe, the CDC determined that Speaker could not be transported back to the United States because the agency did not have the equipment to safely do so for a flight longer than eight hours.
The CDC asked TSA at the time to place Speaker on its "no-fly" list so he could not re-enter the country. But there was a four-hour delay between the request and the listing. Speaker got back into the U.S. through Canada, despite instructions to Customs and Border Patrol officers not to allow him in. The 18-year veteran inspector who ignored the warning has since retired.
The Mexican man had been infected with tuberculosis for five years, but was being treated under a different name, according to the official who requested anonymity.
Homeland Security officials have confirmed that the man is currently living in his home in Juarez, Mexico.
By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Oct 18, 3:51 PM ET
WASHINGTON - For the second time this year, the federal government has failed to stop a man infected with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis from traveling in and out of the United States.
U.S. officials this spring were unable to catch a Mexican man infected with the disease because the doctor treating the man did not know his real name, according to a government official who was briefed on the incident but requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
In May, an Atlanta lawyer with the disease was able to travel internationally despite warnings from health officials.
This new example of a failure at the border is significant because it exposes a potential new weakness: U.S. reliance on foreign medical record keeping.
The Mexican national traveled to the United States 76 times in the past year, even though Mexican and U.S. authorities knew he was infected with a contagious strain of tuberculosis. However, the Mexican clinic that had been treating the man, which is affiliated with the Texas Health department, unknowingly provided a fake name to U.S. authorities, the official said. The Washington Times first reported the episode in Thursday's editions.
The man crossed the U.S. border 21 times between April 16 and May 31, using his real name and real travel documents, said Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Friel. The federal Centers for Disease Control would not provide the man's real or fake names for privacy reasons, but the official who was briefed on the case said his real name is Amado Amaya. Amaya took several flights in the U.S. between April and June, the official said.
Customs officials sent out a nationwide alert to look for the man on April 16, but officials were not able to catch him because the alert was for the man's pseudonym, Friel said.
On April 17, when Customs officials had no luck finding the man, they suspected they had the wrong information and alerted health officials. On May 31, the Mexican man revealed his real identity to his doctor in Mexico because of all the publicity surrounding Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker, who also was infected with the disease and evading authorities.
Amaya's associates and some family members have tried to enter the United States since May 31, but Customs officials made them go through additional inspections and tested them for the disease. None of them were infected and they were cleared to enter the U.S., the official said.
In May, Speaker was able to fly from Atlanta to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon despite warnings from public health officials. Once he was in Europe, the CDC determined that Speaker could not be transported back to the United States because the agency did not have the equipment to safely do so for a flight longer than eight hours.
The CDC asked TSA at the time to place Speaker on its "no-fly" list so he could not re-enter the country. But there was a four-hour delay between the request and the listing. Speaker got back into the U.S. through Canada, despite instructions to Customs and Border Patrol officers not to allow him in. The 18-year veteran inspector who ignored the warning has since retired.
The Mexican man had been infected with tuberculosis for five years, but was being treated under a different name, according to the official who requested anonymity.
Homeland Security officials have confirmed that the man is currently living in his home in Juarez, Mexico.