Air France Flight Diverted Due to Ebola Concerns
An Air France flight headed for Detroit was rerouted to Canada after officials discovered that a passenger with connections to an Ebola hotspot in Africa was, perhaps mistakenly, on board. This information was confirmed by authorities on Wednesday.
A representative from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicated that the flight had taken off from France, carrying passengers primarily from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and landed in Montreal instead of its intended destination.
According to the spokesperson, “Due to entry restrictions in place to reduce the risk of Ebola, the passengers should not have boarded the flight.” The CBP acted promptly to prevent the airplane from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
Upon arriving in Montreal, passengers were disembarked. As of Wednesday evening, it had not yet been confirmed whether the individual in question was infected with Ebola.
Contact was made with Air France for their comments, but a response was not immediately available.
This past Monday, the United States put into action enhanced travel testing and entry restrictions due to an escalating Ebola outbreak in East and Central Africa. These restrictions specifically impact those who have traveled to Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan recently.
The outbreak involves a rare strain of Ebola known as the Bundibugyo virus. Officials noted that the infection had spread unnoticed for several weeks before the initial deaths were reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that there have been 139 fatalities and nearly 600 suspected cases of infection. On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that 51 confirmed cases had been identified in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu in northern Congo, along with two cases in Uganda.
Dr. Vathy Moorthy, a special adviser to WHO, mentioned that a vaccine to combat Bundibugyo would not be ready for at least six to nine months.
Currently, the WHO is still searching for “case zero” as health authorities strive to uncover the virus’s source.
The Ebola virus is known for being highly contagious, transmitted to humans via contact with affected bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, and semen. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and in some cases, bleeding.
