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Two flights from Europe landed at the Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday and their passengers were sent for medical examinations. A day earlier, a plane from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, had been quarantined at Kennedy International Airport in New York after initial reports revealed that up to 100 travelers were at edge.
It sounds scary. Passenger aircraft charges that report shock symptoms naturally raise concerns about a wider epidemic. But quarantine reports and medical checks are actually evidence of a complex health system operating exactly as planned, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And there is a good explanation to why all this seemed to happen at the same time.
Basically, there is no reason to worry. This could help, however, to find out more about what happened.
Emirates Airline Flight 203
The Dubai flight landed Wednesday morning at Kennedy Airport and was quarantined. The pilot had alerted officials in the field after dozens of passengers complained of feeling sick, a New York Times law enforcement official said Wednesday.
C.D.C. Initially, about 100 passengers were considered ill, but after their examination, only 19 travelers out of more than 500 were considered ill. Of these, 11 were taken to the hospital. They had the flu or a cold, C.D.C. I said.
American Airlines Flights 755 and 1317
Flight 755 arrived at the Philadelphia International Airport from Paris and Flight 1317 arrived from Munich. Twelve passengers had symptoms of flight on flights. the 250 passengers and the crew were held for medical examination after leaving the flight. In addition to the 12 sick passengers, everyone was allowed to leave.
"Nobody was very sick, everyone was allowed to continue," said Dr. Marty Cetron, director of the global division of migration and quarantine of C.D.C.
Why were they all sick at the same time?
A large number of passengers had participated in the Hajj, an annual pilgrimage that millions of Muslims make to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad. This year, the hajj took place at the end of August and it is estimated that at least 1.7 million people attended. Having traveled from all over the world, they stayed close for several days.
The spread of the disease is to be expected. The same is true for those who live in the United States and have traveled a variety of routes to return home (hence the reported diseases on flights from the Middle East and Europe).
"Wherever millions of people congregate, the transmission of the disease increases," said T.J. Doyle, Medical Director of Stat MedEvac, who provides emergency counseling like this.
This has already occurred before, but "the Saudi government is taking great care in screening and treatment," said Dr. Cetron at the C.D.C.
Is this serious?
No more serious than regular influenza outbreaks that occur each fall and winter.
The quarantining of the aircraft at Kennedy Airport was very thorough, but the response system worked exactly as planned, Dr. Cetron said.
The center was called 30 minutes before the flight. The agency was then able to check the global databases on the spread of diseases globally. Health services and local laboratories were alerted to prepare for their arrival. The plane was stopped away from the terminal and people were checked and treated.
Will it be a more common occurrence?
Agencies like C.D.C. are aware that people are traveling abroad. This kind of occurrence is relatively rare – it occurs less than once a year, the C.D.C. I said.
The agency spends much more time reviewing people's travel history to see where they have been exposed, as it may take some time before symptoms are reported.
"The vast majority of our answers are about reconstructing history and finding all the people in the United States and other countries, finding the most at-risk people, explaining to them how they can be tested and treated" said Dr. Cetron.
Is there more risk of illness on flights?
This can vary depending on the infectious nature of the disease and the possibility of spreading in the air or water droplets.
But the likelihood of contracting an illness in an airplane increases with the time you spend in the air, as if you were on a Greyhound bus for 10 hours, Doyle said. "There is nothing more risky about being on a plane."
Of course, traveling is always a little risky. A recent study of surfaces frequently touched at the Helsinki airport in Finland has detected traces of rhinovirus, source of the common cold, and of Influenza A viruses. They found traces on half of the luggage racks, more than on the other surfaces tested. None of these viruses have been found on airport toilet surfaces, they said.
Airline staff and customs and border protection officers are trained to track and report sick travelers. If people are reported sick, the C.D.C. its response will vary according to the infectious nature of the disease.
What about when people are in hajj?
C.D.C. recommends that anyone going to be vaccinated if they can and ensures that their family is protected, because vaccination does not prevent people from carrying pathogens.
And it's just as important for a common illness, like the flu, as it is for any other illness. "The flu kills thousands of people each year," said Doyle of Stat MedEvac. "More people are dying of the flu than dying of Ebola."
