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Lassa Virus Was Unwanted Passenger on N.Y.-Mpls. Flight
Jeremy Olson
Source: Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Created: April 11, 2014
The incident is raising questions about what protections are in place to prevent passengers with contagious diseases from boarding commercial flights and, through international travel
April 11--John Nides and his wife had buckled up for the trip home from New York on March 31 when a passenger boarded Delta Flight 2921 who needed help from a flight attendant to navigate the walkway, according to Nides, and was garbling his words.
"Everybody thought this guy was drunk," Nides said.
The passenger, who sat right across the aisle from Nides and his wife, was infected with Lassa virus, a rat-born infection common in west Africa that hasn't been detected in the United States since 2010. Within days, the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had launched an investigation to make sure the virus hadn't spread to others on the flight or, later, to the staff at a Twin Cities hospital where he was treated.
There is no sign that Lassa fever struck the other passengers -- the virus spreads through blood and saliva, not casual contact. But the incident is raising questions about what protections are in place to prevent passengers with contagious diseases from boarding commercial flights and, through international travel, potentially spreading viruses far and wide...
Lassa Virus Was Unwanted Passenger on N.Y.-Mpls. Flight
Jeremy Olson
Source: Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Created: April 11, 2014
The incident is raising questions about what protections are in place to prevent passengers with contagious diseases from boarding commercial flights and, through international travel
April 11--John Nides and his wife had buckled up for the trip home from New York on March 31 when a passenger boarded Delta Flight 2921 who needed help from a flight attendant to navigate the walkway, according to Nides, and was garbling his words.
"Everybody thought this guy was drunk," Nides said.
The passenger, who sat right across the aisle from Nides and his wife, was infected with Lassa virus, a rat-born infection common in west Africa that hasn't been detected in the United States since 2010. Within days, the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had launched an investigation to make sure the virus hadn't spread to others on the flight or, later, to the staff at a Twin Cities hospital where he was treated.
There is no sign that Lassa fever struck the other passengers -- the virus spreads through blood and saliva, not casual contact. But the incident is raising questions about what protections are in place to prevent passengers with contagious diseases from boarding commercial flights and, through international travel, potentially spreading viruses far and wide...