First Ebola patient in the US 'flew on Brussels Airlines flight before boarding two United planes'
- Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan was reportedly a passenger on both Brussels Airlines and United Airlines flights
- A Belgian official said Duncan left Monrovia, Liberia, on Sept. 19 aboard a Brussels Airlines jet to the Belgian capital
- United Airlines said it believes the man was on United Airlines Flight 951 to Washington Dulles, then Flight 822 to Dallas Fort-Worth
- Still, federal officials say other passengers on the flights are at no risk of infection because the man had no symptoms at the time of his trip
Thomas
Eric Duncan, the man who has been publicly identified as having the
first diagnosed case of Ebola in the United States, was reportedly a
passenger on both Brussels Airlines and United Airlines flights before
his arrival at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport.
Details
of Duncan's 28-hour trip from western Africa emerged Wednesday. He flew
on two airlines, took three flights, and had lengthy airport layovers
before reaching Texas on Sept. 20.
Duncan
left Monrovia, Liberia, on Sept. 19 aboard a Brussels Airlines jet to
the Belgian capital, according to a Belgian official.
A request for comment to the airline from MailOnline was not immediately answered.
United
Airlines said in a Wednesday statement ''The United States Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has informed us that the patient
said he flew part of his trip on United.'
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Passenger: Thomas Eric Duncan was reportedly on two United Airlines flights before he was admitted to a Dallas hospital
'While
the CDC states it is unnecessary for it or the airline to contact
others who were on the patient’s flights, United is providing
information about the flights United believes the patient took, based on
information provided by the CDC,' the airline also said. 'We are
ensuring our employees have this information and suggest that any
customers who have concerns contact the experts at the CDC for further
information.'
The
airline's statement said it believed the man was on board Flight 951
from Brussels, Belgium to Washington Dulles Airport in Virginia, and
later was a passenger on Flight 822, which went from Washington Dulles
to Dallas Fort-Worth Airport.
The
first reported case of Ebola in the United States is spooking airline
investors and raising the prospect that some frightened travelers might
stay home despite repeated reassurances from public-health experts.
Flight plan: Thomas Eric Duncan reportedly arrived in Dallas after flying on two airlines and taking three flights
Still,
federal officials say other passengers on the flights are at no risk of
infection because the man had no symptoms at the time of his trip.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Duncan sought medical care Sept. 24 in Dallas.
Dr.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and
Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health, told The
Associated Press that even though Duncan took several flights to reach
the U.S., his lack of symptoms at the time made it 'extraordinarily
unlikely' that he infected anyone else on the planes.
Still,
the incident spooked airline investors. Shares of United and other
leading U.S. airline companies dropped 2.8 percent or more. Shares of
European carriers fell by similar margins.
Deadly: The Ebola virus has killed thousands in West Africa already
'The
fear is if this gets worse, it would affect people's travel behavior,'
said Joseph DeNardi, an analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Health
officials "sound confident that they've got it under control. Hopefully
they're right.'
The
CDC typically notifies an airline when it learns that an infectious
person traveled on that carrier. The airline then turns over the flight
manifest to CDC, and health officials notify other passengers while the
airline deals with crew members.
In
this case, the CDC told United but not the public what flights the man
took. In an interview Wednesday with the AP, Dr. Thomas Frieden,
director of the CDC, suggested that doing so would divert public-health
resources away from controlling an outbreak of the virus. He said the
CDC was focused on finding and tracking anyone who came in contact with
Duncan after he began showing symptoms.
Public
health officials have assured fliers that airports in Africa, Europe
and the U.S. are taking all necessary precautions to prevent the spread
of the virus, including screening passengers for fever.
An
outbreak of SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome - crippled air
travel in Asia in 2003. Michael Derchin, an analyst with CRT Capital
Group, said it was too early to draw a comparison between one Ebola
patient and the 2003 SARS outbreak. He noted that SARS is an airborne
disease that health officials say is transmitted more easily than Ebola.
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