Ebola ruled out in man taken from flight at Newark airport
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey health officials say Ebola has been ruled out as the cause of illness for a man who became sick on a flight from Brussels to the United States.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials met United Airlines Flight 998 when it landed late Saturday afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Port Authority spokeswoman Erica Dumas says the man began throwing up during the flight. Dumas says the man's daughter was also on board and taken off with him.
Health officials say the man's symptoms were later shown to be consistent with a minor, treatable illness.
ABC News reported that the man was removed from the United Airlines plane by a hazmat-dressed medical personnel.
The New York Post has posted photos of the man being taken from an ambulance after arriving at University Hospital in Newark.
Authorities said the plane's crew and its roughly 250 remaining passengers stayed onboard for about 90 minutes while the man received medical treatment, then were allowed to leave.
United Airlines said in a statement the ill passenger was taken to a hospital.
Related stories:
Earlier Saturday a Dallas hospital reported that the lone Ebola patient there is in critical condition.
Candace White, a spokeswoman for Texas Health Resources, which operates Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas where Thomas Eric Duncan is being treated, issued a six-word news release saying, "Mr. Duncan is in critical condition."
She provided no further details about his condition and didn't immediately respond to emails and phone calls. The hospital previously said Duncan was being kept in isolation and that his condition was serious but stable.
Duncan traveled from disease-ravaged Liberia to Dallas last month before he began showing symptoms of the disease. He was treated and released from the hospital before returning two days later in an ambulance and being diagnosed with Ebola.
Health officials said Saturday that they are currently monitoring about 50 people for signs of the deadly disease who may have had contact with Duncan, including nine who are believed to be at a higher risk. Thus far none have shown symptoms. Among those being monitored are people who rode in the ambulance that transported Duncan back to the hospital before his diagnosis, said Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More From New Jersey 101.5 FM
