Probe after TB victim disappeared

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An inquiry is under way after a man who was being held in an infectious disease unit to prevent him spreading the lung disease Tuberculosis (TB) went missing.

The man was being treated at North Manchester General Hospital in Crumpsall after council officials got a court order to detain him.

But he disappeared from the unit on Tuesday night, before turning up at a hospital in London early on Wednesday.

The Health Protection Agency said an investigation was under way.

Rochdale Council applied for him to be detained as an in-patient at North Manchester as a "last resort", the HPA said.

Officials are now trying to discover how he managed to leave the unit.

Low risk

A HPA spokesman said: "The patient, who is in the hospital in London voluntarily, is being cared for appropriately and is continuing to take his medication.

"His condition this morning is that he is continuing to respond well to treatment."

TB most commonly affects the lungs but can affect almost any part of the body.

"Members of the public should be reassured that TB is not easily caught," the spokesman added.

"To be at risk of infection one must spend many hours in close contact with someone who is openly infectious and coughing up TB germs."