New York City - May 29, 2007 - The New York City Health Department and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation have worked closely with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate and prevent transmission from this rare case of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in an Atlanta resident. Though this individual spent 72 hours at a New York City hospital, he was in isolation the entire time.

He came to New York City alone, not on an airplane, bus, train, or other form of transportation in which he would have shared space with others. At no point before he was transported securely back to Atlanta by the CDC on Monday did he interact with people other than trained medical personnel. We have no information to suggest anyone in New York City is at any risk associated with this case. We will stay in close contact with the CDC to further investigate this situation and update the public as appropriate.

For more information about XDR-TB, visit http://www.cdc.gov/tb/pubs/tbfactsheets/xdrtb.htm.