Dubai-New York flyers may have caught flu
New York: times 07.09.2018
Eleven people on an Emirates flight were taken to a New York City hospital suffering flu-like symptoms on Wednesday after scores of passengers and crew complained of feeling sick during a 14-hour trip from Dubai, officials said.
Laboratory tests on respiratory samples from the patients have yet to confirm the illness, but their histories and symptoms — fever, cough and vomiting — indicate influenza, said Dr Oxiris Barbot, New York City’s acting health commissioner.
Some passengers in recent days had attended the annual Haj pilgrimage to the city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula, a region where the flu virus was circulating, and could have contracted the illness there, Barbot said. It was also possible the virus was transmitted between passengers during the lengthy flight, she said. All who were hospitalised were in stable condition and none was in need of “extreme” medical attention, Barbot said. The flu’s incubation period typically is one to seven days, Barbot said, and people who are infected can be contagious before showing signs of illness.
The airliner, with at least 521passengers, landed at John F Kennedy International Airport and was surrounded by dozens of emergency vehicles as passengers waited to be evaluated by health officials. The airline and the mayor’s office said 19 people were confirmed ill. Three passengers and seven crew members went to a hospital, and nine other passengers medically evaluated at the scene were released afterward, Emirates said. The rest were allowed to leave and clear customs, the airline said.
Dr Demetre Daskalakis, New York’s deputy commissioner for disease control, said it was rare for so many people aboard a single commercial flight to fall ill at once. REUTERS
Eleven flyers were hospitalised in what Emirates called a ‘precaution’
New York: times 07.09.2018
Eleven people on an Emirates flight were taken to a New York City hospital suffering flu-like symptoms on Wednesday after scores of passengers and crew complained of feeling sick during a 14-hour trip from Dubai, officials said.
Laboratory tests on respiratory samples from the patients have yet to confirm the illness, but their histories and symptoms — fever, cough and vomiting — indicate influenza, said Dr Oxiris Barbot, New York City’s acting health commissioner.
Some passengers in recent days had attended the annual Haj pilgrimage to the city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula, a region where the flu virus was circulating, and could have contracted the illness there, Barbot said. It was also possible the virus was transmitted between passengers during the lengthy flight, she said. All who were hospitalised were in stable condition and none was in need of “extreme” medical attention, Barbot said. The flu’s incubation period typically is one to seven days, Barbot said, and people who are infected can be contagious before showing signs of illness.
The airliner, with at least 521passengers, landed at John F Kennedy International Airport and was surrounded by dozens of emergency vehicles as passengers waited to be evaluated by health officials. The airline and the mayor’s office said 19 people were confirmed ill. Three passengers and seven crew members went to a hospital, and nine other passengers medically evaluated at the scene were released afterward, Emirates said. The rest were allowed to leave and clear customs, the airline said.
Dr Demetre Daskalakis, New York’s deputy commissioner for disease control, said it was rare for so many people aboard a single commercial flight to fall ill at once. REUTERS
Eleven flyers were hospitalised in what Emirates called a ‘precaution’
No comments:
Post a Comment