Statement: Emirates can confirm that about 10 passengers on #EK203 from Dubai to New York were taken ill. On arrival, as a precaution, they were attended to by local health authorities. All others will disembark shortly. The safety & care of our customers is our first priority.
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) September 5, 2018
The plane is isolated, and CDC officials are checking passengers. It appears that some of the passengers are being released.
Here is the first group of passenger allow to leave the aircraft after body temperatures examinations. Instigation is ongoing. #JFK #EK203 pic.twitter.com/24CuPMAfkf
— CameliaEntekhabifard (@CameliaFard) September 5, 2018
An earlier report on ABC said that the number of sick passengers was 100, which now appears to be wrong. The symptoms reported are fever and coughing.
As you might expect, there are panicky tweets that try to be humorous. But, as usual for an incident that gets the public eye, early reports are likely to be inaccurate.
One speculation I’ve seen is that this may be related to food poisoning, although the reported symptoms don’t check out in my limited knowledge of such things.
What the symptoms seem to fit with is Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which is serious but seems to be not easily transmitted. It’s one of the viruses the public health people keep an eye on for possible epidemics. It will probably take a day or more to figure out exactly what the illness is.
As usual, take anything you read with a grain of salt, and don’t spread rumors.
Cheryl Rofer
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I wonder if The Beast will have time to gin up ebola panic in between raging at Woodward
randy khan
I was just reading yesterday about the latest Ebola outbreak. Obviously, it’s terrible (and about 85 people are dead so far), but what was heartening was that it was clear that the World Health Organization and the Congolese government had used the experience from the last time to develop new strategies for containing the disease and treating people who got it. That’s making a huge difference.
So the lesson is that science and planning are good things. Who knew?
chopper
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
man, this is becoming a standard thing right before midterm elections, innit.
Ruviana
@randy khan: Ebola’s endemic in Congo so in spite of the death toll, they’ve got this. Hope it’s not MERS on the plane. Also hope the Orange One doesn’t start tweeting about this!
Cheryl Rofer
Cheryl Rofer
@randy khan: There was another outbreak of ebola earlier this year in Congo, and they beat it back. This one is more difficult because it’s in the conflict zone, but they should be able to handle it.
Corner Stone
@randy khan:
I hope some staffer in the WH steals the paper off Trump’s desk before he can withdraw the US from the WHO and WTO. (Are we even still in the WHO? I can’t keep track).
“Both of these start with the word “World” and not “Trump”. We’re done with these losers!”
Cheryl Rofer
Mmm-kay. You see what I mean about incorrect reports. Steve Herman is usually reliable.
Corner Stone
@Cheryl Rofer: Can’t think of many better places I’d pick for a flu outbreak to start! I mean, if I were playing The Plague video game.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
They ate the fish, didn’t they?
j/k for the Airplane! reference
Meanwhile, in the real world, we cannot hope for this administration to react sanely to another Ebola scare. The fuckers would very likely shut down transit from most of the rest of the world, citizen or not. My trip to Africa next month gets really dicey.
Corner Stone
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m surprised they haven’t used a tac nuke on Congo yet. Maybe that’s another order Mattis decided against.
evodevo
Yep. Probly that camel virus
khead
Ebola Scare 2: Election Boogaloo
NotMax
An obvious question is whether those affected were seated more or less together in the same part of the plane or if their seats were spread throughout the cabin.
Another is how long after takeoff it was until symptoms appeared. Possible (emphasize possible) the point of origin was at the airport itself.
trollhattan
O/T Florida Man vacations in Texas.
In other words, Wednesday in America.
Chyron HR
@trollhattan:
“I think it’s important to talk to Trump supporters and to say to them, “Look, we understand.'” – Bernard S., Burlington, VT
Mike in NC
@khead: Just leave a little room to panic over MS-13 taking over many of our cities.
NotMax
@trollhattan
KDFW is a FOX owned and operated station.
Steeplejack
I don’t like the sound of that.
Litlebritdifrnt
When I was in the Navy and serving in Hong Kong, my bessie ops at the time and I decided to take a holiday to Bali (much closer to HK than the UK so it seemed like a no brainer) I was gobsmacked to discover that before we were allowed to leave Hong Kong and return we would have to have a boat load of vaccinations, and if we didn’t have the required documentation we would not be allowed to leave HK. They were serious too, cause when we went through we had to show our vaccination certificates as well as our passports, tickets and such. I have no idea why they were so strict but I suppose it makes sense, not wanting you to bring back some disease that they had no problem with in HK. Not sure if they still have the same restrictions since the Chinese took over in 1997 but it certainly applied to me in 1986.
burnspbesq
Drum cited (and linked to) Cheryl’s Bruce Ohr post this morning. Way to go, Cheryl.
burnspbesq
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Makes sense. There aren’t many places better than HK for a small cluster of cases of an infectious disease to turn into a raging epidemic in no time flat.
Cheryl Rofer
@burnspbesq: Thanks! Pleased to see that! Kevin’s an old friend. I even subbed for him once.
The Moar You Know
I’ve flown out of Dubai. There’s two terminals – one for “domestic” (read, entire Middle East) which is pretty much what you’d expect here, minus the ridiculous shoe bullshit.
And then there is international (Europe/US) Where I, and every single passenger and flight crew, no exceptions, were searched five times by five different security teams in between check in and boarding, including a bag-emptying, every-item-examined search (the second one of the routine) right on the jetway as you were going to get on the plane. And those teams were not fucking around. Had a couple of people start to get shitty with them and it was explained in no uncertain terms “one more word out your piehole and you’re going to jail, now empty your fucking bags”. Could you get a sick person on the plane? Yeah. Could you get a bioweapon on the plane? I really doubt it.
DavidC
One report says food poisoning – so someone may have eaten the fish. With that many symptomatic people, that sounds like a reasonable guess.
Lee
I’ve been patiently waiting for an open thread!!
Here is another campaign ad from our favorite Air Force S&R Helicopter pilot!
Cheryl Rofer
In monitoring the #EK203 hashtag, I’m watching people generate conspiracy theories. It can’t have been an error to have said that the plane stopped in Mecca, SOMEONE IS DELIBERATELY WITHHOLDING THE TRUTH!
Honestly.
Yutsano
@trollhattan: He seems nice…
Yellowdog
MERS has a case fatality rate of 35%! Everyone on that plane should be isolated for the incubation period, which can be up to 2 weeks. People who have been exposed should NOT be in the general population. (Yes, I am an epidemiologist.)
PS-Someone on the plane has been quoted as saying that people were sick when they boarded, even asked for a mask because so many people were coughing. Said no masks were available.
Cheryl Rofer
Mnemosyne
@Cheryl Rofer:
When you put a conspiracy theorist in charge of the US government, the rest of then come out of thw woodwork. ?
I think this was before your time, but one of the long-gone trolls I used to argue with here claimed that the fact that we know that actual conspiracies do happen (ie Monsanto price fixing, Catholic Church abuse, etc) proved that all conspiracy theories are really true and you can’t mock them, because [insert handwaving here].
Yeah. That dude was pretty nutty.
J R in WV
@Cheryl Rofer:
Steve H used to work with wife, years ago before he left for the Asia Pacific world. An excellent reporter now in DC. You can count on Herman’s work. Went to music shows and dinners together.
Cheryl Rofer
@Yellowdog: I’ve been wondering if the passengers shouldn’t be isolated, given that MERS is a potential concern.
tokyokie
@Litlebritdifrnt: Around about that time, I applied for a job with the Asian Wall Street Journal, based in Hong Kong, and to that end, I got a series of vaccinations for some tropical disease. Yellow fever? Malaria? I can’t remember, but I had it stamped on the vaccination card I used to carry in my passport, but I no longer have to do that. Don’t know why.
Uncle Cosmo
IIUC the air supply in a jetliner comes from the external atmosphere, pressurized (at altitude) & streamed through the cabin from front to rear. Implying that, ceteris paribus, the farther forward you sit, the less chance of inhaling whatever pathogens other passengers are coughing out.
Meanwhile, the farther back one’s seat in the cabin (again ceteris paribus) the better the chance of surviving a crash.
Well, shee-yit. Maybe I should just swim to Yerp next time…
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I never really thought about it before, but Trumpov as ‘The Beast’ from TRANSMETROPOLITAN makes sense. He’s a better fit than Nixon for the character.
So who’s Trumpov’s ‘Spider Jerusalem’ – Avenatti?
Michael G
#stationeleven
NotMax
@Uncle Cosmo
mellowjohn
wasn’t this the opening scene of Fear the Walking Dead?
Yutsano
@Uncle Cosmo: I want my dirigibles back dammit!
PaulWartenberg
SNAAAAAAKKKKEESSSSSSSS!
Have we forgotten that classic so soon?
catclub
@Mnemosyne:
also, the helicopters are not laughing and I will send you my credenzas.
AliceBlue
“The President is being updated”–now there’s a comforting thought.
Wyatt Derp
@mellowjohn: It was the opening scene from The Strain. Just saying…
Uncle Cosmo
@Yutsano: Break out the Fringe reruns!
Uncle Cosmo
@Jeffro: In fact Twitler makes a lot more sense viewed through the lens of fundamentalist Christianity.
As the Antichrist.
J R in WV
@Uncle Cosmo:
Cunard runs ocean liners across to Yerp, and it doesn’t cost as much as first/business class air… it does talk longer, but if time isn’t an issue…
I’ve always wanted to do that, “sail” across the ocean on a nice ship.