"       ATLANTA — The honeymooner quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was identified Thursday as a 31-year-old Atlanta personal injury lawyer whose new father-in-law is a CDC microbiologist specializing in the spread of TB."

"       Bob Cooksey would not comment on whether he reported his son-in-law, 31-year-old Andrew Speaker, to federal health authorities. He said only that he gave Speaker "fatherly advice" when he learned the young man had contracted the disease."

"       "I'm hoping and praying that he's getting the proper treatment, that my daughter is holding up mentally and physically," Cooksey told The Associated Press. "Had I known that my daughter was in any risk, I would not allow her to travel.""

"       Speaker said in a newspaper interview that he knew he had TB when he flew from Atlanta to Europe in mid-May for his wedding and honeymoon, but that he did not find out until he was already in Rome that it was an extensively drug-resistant strain considered especially dangerous."

"       Despite warnings from federal health officials not to board another long flight, he flew home for treatment, fearing he wouldn't survive if he didn't reach the U.S., he said."

"       He was quarantined May 25, after his return from his honeymoon, in the first such action taken by the federal government since 1963."

"       On Thursday, he was flown from Atlanta to Denver, accompanied by his wife and federal marshals, to be treated at Denver's National Jewish Medical and Research Center."

"       He looked healthy and tan when he arrived, and "he said he still felt fine," hospital spokesman William Allstetter said. The chief of the hospital's infectious-disease division said that he is optimistic Speaker can be cured, because he is believed to be in the early stages of the disease."

"       Doctors planned to begin treating him immediately with two antibiotics, one oral and one intravenous. He also will undergo a test to evaluate how infectious he is and a CT scan and lung X-ray, Allstetter said."

"       Doctors hope to also determine where he contracted the disease, which has been found around the world and exists in pockets in Russia and Asia."

"       He will be kept in a special unit with a ventilation system to prevent the escape of germs. "He may not leave that room much for several weeks," Allstetter said."

"       Cooksey works in the CDC's mycobacteriology laboratory branch. He has co-authored papers on diabetes and infectious diseases, including TB. He recently co-authored a report on a bacteria outbreak in bone marrow transplant and oncology patients in a hospital water supply."

"       According to a biography posted on a Web site connected with Speaker's law firm, the young lawyer attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in finance, then attended University of Georgia's law school. He is in private practice with his father, Ted Speaker, an unsuccessful candidate for a judgeship in 2004."

"       Andrew Speaker recently moved from an upscale condominium complex in anticipation of his wedding, former neighbors said. He also wrote in an application to become a board member of
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