Man With TB Allowed to Fly Cross-Country

A passenger with tuberculosis was allowed to board a U.S. Airways flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco Saturday and fly cross-country, despite being on a "do-not-board" list.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the passenger was detained after the flight arrived in San Francisco Saturday night and taken to a local hospital.

CBS Station KYW in Philadelphia reports that the unidentified male passenger was apparently placed on a "do-not-board" list submitted to the TSA and CDC on January 8, 2010.

Investigators are trying to determine how the noticeably-ill man made it through security checkpoints and onto the plane.

CDC officials said because the flight was less than eight hours, the risk to other passengers aboard the plane was low.

Tuberculosis (or TB) is a potentially deadly infectious disease that typically affects the lung, but can attack the rest of the body. It was once the leading cause of death in the U.S.

Symptoms include a cough, sometimes with blood, that lasts more than three weeks, chest pains, chills and fever.