Following Quarantine At Kennedy Airport, Two More Flights From Europe Screened Because Of Passenger Illness
The symptoms in all three cases were most likely from the flu or the common cold. Meanwhile, the quarantine highlighted the rapid-response system in place to deal with possible infections coming into the country.
Reuters:
Passengers Fall Ill On Two Flights From Europe To Philadelphia
Passengers and crew on two flights arriving in Philadelphia from Europe on Thursday were screened by medical teams after 12 people aboard became ill with flu-like symptoms, a day after a similar outbreak on a flight from Dubai to New York. All 250 people on separate American Airlines flights from Munich and Paris were "held for a medical review" as a precaution, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was notified, Philadelphia International Airport spokeswoman Diane Gerace said. (Whitcomb, 9/6)
The New York Times:
Passengers On Emirates Flight From Dubai Had Flu And Common Cold
The sick passengers on the Emirates airline flight that landed at Kennedy International Airport in New York on Wednesday were most likely suffering from the flu and common cold, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. (Pager, 9/6)
Stat:
How A 'Hidden Safety Net' Was Rolled Out In Response To Quarantined JFK Plane
In the confusing first hour or two after an Emirates Airline jet was quarantined at New York’s JFK Airport on Wednesday, there was little certainty over how many people were sick or what was ailing them. But one thing was clear: A system years in the making to spot and halt importation of dangerous illnesses to the United States was set into motion. The system, involving federal, state, and local agencies across the U.S. at major ports of entry, is the country’s “hidden safety net,” Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of global migration and quarantine, told STAT. (Branswell, 9/7)
