A 49-year-old Tucson man is in jail after authorities said he created a public-health risk by failing to take medication for tuberculosis.
James Roman Pearson, who gave a general-delivery address, remained at the Pima County jail Wednesday on a tuberculosis violation more than two weeks after the Pima County Health Department petitioned to have him taken into custody, said Sheriff's Deputy Dawn Hanke.
Pearson was booked Nov. 20 after a court was asked that "he be taken in as a serious health risk," Hanke said Wednesday.
He is being held in isolation. "The court will decide when he will be released," said Hanke, a Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.
While the Health Department declined to comment on Pearson's case because of patient-confidentiality laws, it did confirm that there is one local multidrug-resistant TB case.
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A sheriff's deputy picked up Pearson and took him to the jail. The deputy had to wear a respiratory mask, as did all workers at the jail who had contact with him, said Capt. Greg Gearhart, security operations division commander.
Pearson was placed in one of four isolation cells called negative-pressure rooms, which have a separate air filtration system, Gearhart said. Whenever Pearson is outside his cell, he must wear a respiratory mask.
Since he has been in custody, Pearson has been taking his medication, Gearhart said.
Pearson did not list an occupation on his jail booking form.
Court records in the case have been sealed, the Health Department said. It is rare for the department to go to such lengths, said Patti Woodcock, a department spokeswoman.
"Usually we have very good, cooperative patients," she said.
If the Health Department has reason to believe that a person is not taking needed medication it will ensure that he does so by going to the home each day to watch him take it, Woodcock said. Going to the courts is a last resort.
It is unclear what kind of strain Pearson is infected with.
Tuberculosis is a disease caused by bacteria that usually attacks the lungs but can also attack the kidney, spine and brain, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is spread through the air from one person to another, according to the CDC's Web site. The bacteria are put into the air when a person with active TB of the lungs or throat coughs or sneezes. People nearby may breathe in the bacteria and become infected.
If not treated properly, it can be fatal.
In May, six Tucsonans were tested for TB after flying on a plane with Andrew Speaker — the Atlanta lawyer infected with a rare and dangerous strain of tuberculosis. After preliminary testing, they did not show any signs of contracting the disease, the Health Department said.
Speaker took commercial flights against the advice of federal health authorities and set off an international health scare. As a result he was quarantined in Denver.
Last year, another man infected with TB was incarcerated at a hospital jail ward in Phoenix after he went into a convenience store without a mask. Health officials said he endangered others and as a result a court order was obtained for his arrest.
