Tuberculosis (TB) Symptoms, Cause, Transmission, Diagnosis and Treatment on MedicineNet.com

Font Size

Tuberculosis
(TB)

Medical Author: George Schiffman, MD
Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

CDC Issues Isolation Order for Man with TB

Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Get the facts about extensively drug-resistant TB and multi drug-resistant TB. In May 2007, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order to quarantine a man who flew on two transatlantic flights with a rare, dangerous form of tuberculosis and potentially exposed passengers and crew to the infection.

The Atlanta man was believed to be infected with the form of the tuberculosis bacteria known as "extensively drug-resistant" TB, abbreviated XDR TB. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs, and the infection is spread via air droplets released during coughing, spitting, sneezing, or talking. XDR TB causes the same symptoms that a person would develop with TB. If TB disease is present, cough and fever would be the predominant symptoms. XDR TB is a rare form of the disease that is resistant to the drugs routinely used to treat tuberculosis infections and is extremely difficult to treat. The few treatment options available for XDR TB are less effective and associated with worse outcomes than traditional antibiotic therapies for TB. In 2006, there were two documented cases of XDR TB in the U.S.

Health authorities were aware of the man's condition and had warned the man against traveling, but he stated that compelling personal reasons led him to fly from Atlanta to Paris on May 13. On May 24, he returned to North America on a flight from Prague to Montreal and entered the U.S. by car. While it is not certain that passengers and crew on board the flights were infected, the CDC recommended that passengers and crew on those flights be tested for TB infection. Particularly those seated within two rows of the infected man are at greatest risk for infection.

After his return to the U.S., the man cooperated with authorities and voluntarily entered a hospital in Atlanta and was placed in respiratory isolation to prevent spread of the infection. This event marked the first time since 1963, when a patient with smallpox was quarantined, that the CDC issued this type of isolation order.

Learn the difference between XDR TB and multi drug-resistant TB (MDR TB) »

Top Searched Tuberculosis Terms:

symptoms, mycobacterium, treatment, skin test, diagnosis, vaccine

What is tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacteria whose scientific name is Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It was first isolated in 1882 by a German physician named Robert Koch who received the Nobel prize for this discovery. TB most commonly affects the lungs but also can involve almost any organ of the body. Many years ago, this disease was referred to as "consumption" because without effective treatment, these patients often would waste away. Today, of course, tuberculosis usually can be treated successfully with antibiotics.

There is also a group of organisms referred to as atypical tuberculosis. These involve other types of bacteria that are in the Mycobacterium family. Often, these organisms do not cause disease and are referred to a "colonizers," because they simply live alongside other bacteria in our bodies without causing damage. At times, these bacteria can cause an infection that is sometimes clinically like typical tuberculosis. When these atypical mycobacteria cause infection, they are often very difficult to cure. Often, drug therapy for these organisms must be administered for one and a half to two years and requires multiple medications.

How does a person get TB?

A person can become infected with tuberculosis bacteria when he or she inhales minute particles of infected sputum from the air. The bacteria get into the air when someone who has a tuberculosis lung infection coughs, sneezes, shouts, or spits (which is common in some cultures). People who are nearby can then possibly breathe the bacteria into their lungs. You don't get TB by just touching the clothes or shaking the hands of someone who is infected. Tuberculosis is spread (transmitted) primarily from person to person by breathing infected air during close contact.

There is a form of atypical tuberculosis, however, that is transmitted by drinking unpasteurized milk. Related bacteria, called Mycobacterium bovis, cause this form of TB. Previously, this type of bacteria was a major cause of TB in children, but it rarely causes TB now since most milk is pasteurized (undergoes a heating process that kills the bacteria).