Plane from Ghana released after temporary quarantine at Chicago airport: suspicion of infectious disease

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http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/26/plane-reportedly-quarantined-at-chicago-airport/

Plane reportedly quarantined at Chicago airport
Published April 26, 2012
FoxNews.com

DEVELOPING: A plane reportedly is being quarantined after landing in Chicago, and the investigation is said to involve the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Aviation officials in Chicago say the city's health department and fire department have responded to a flight that landed at Midway International Airport, but local police and fire officials told Fox News the CDC is handling it.

Chicago Aviation Department spokeswoman Karen Pride says a passenger on Delta flight 3163 had a reported medical issue. Television images showed emergency vehicles lined along the aircraft on the tarmac.

WBBM Newsradio reported that the passenger may have been traveling from Ghana and may have had a sort of rash or contagious disease.

WLS reported the emergency led to a quarantine of the plane, though an FAA spokeswoman told Fox News she couldn't confirm there was a contagious issue.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/0...#ixzz1tC0ql9Mu

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Re: Plane from Ghana quanarantined and released at Chicago airport on suspicion of infectious disease

Looks like a VHF scare:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/passengers-leave-delta-flight-health-scare/story?id=16223518

Passengers Leave Delta Flight After Health Scare

A Delta flight was under quarantine at Chicago Midway Airport, April 26, 2012. Police and paramedics surrounded the plane on the tarmac. (ABC News)More Sharing ServicesShareShare on facebook_likeEmail Comment Print
Text Size- / +By KIM CAROLLO (@kimcarollo) and DAN CHILDS (@DanChildsABC)
April 26, 2012

After a reported quarantine, passengers on a Delta flight that landed at Chicago's Midway Airport were allowed to disembark.

The news of a quarantine of flight 3163 from Detroit followed reports of an ill passenger, according to ABC News station WLS in Chicago.

The CDC had initially contacted Delta and asked it to hold the plane, according to a statement from the airline.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chicago Department of Health met the plane on the tarmac and worked with emergency crews to assess the issue. According to the city's Department of Aviation, the plane landed at the airport this afternoon.

ABC NewsA Delta flight was under quarantine at... View Full Size ABC NewsA Delta flight was under quarantine at Chicago Midway Airport, April 26, 2012. Police and paramedics surrounded the plane on the tarmac.
Passengers on the flight said that the plane pulled up to the gate after landing, but the pilot would not open the door, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. Instead, according to the article, two officers in Hazmat suits from the Chicago Fire Department boarded the plane to examine a passenger, a woman from Uganda. The officers took pictures of the woman and sent them to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the passenger quoted in the article.

The head of quarantine at the CDC told ABC News chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser that the female passenger, who had been in Uganda, had displayed a skin rash. However, she had no fever, swelled lymph nodes or other indicators of a serious infectious disease.

After officers on the scene assessed the condition of the passenger in question, the CDC released all passengers from the plane.

Health officials reportedly interviewed some passengers on the flight.

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Re: Plane from Ghana quanarantined and released at Chicago airport on suspicion of infectious disease

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/delta-passengers-quarantined-following-medical-scare.html

Delta Passengers Quarantined Following Medical Scare (Which Turned Out To Be Bug Bites)
By Chris Morran on April 26, 2012 7:34 PM 0 views Passengers on board a Delta flight from Detroit to Chicago were quarantined on the tarmac for several hours this afternoon over concerns about one traveler with what appeared to be a mysterious rash.

According CBS Chicago, the rash was ultimately determined to be the result of bug bites, but only after the plane was surrounded by Chicago fire department trucks on the tarmac at Midway airport.