Plane quarantined at Las Vegas airport after Ebola scare

By Pashtana Usufzy

Published Friday, Oct. 10, 2014 | 12:32 p.m.

Updated Friday, Oct. 10, 2014 | 1:43 p.m.

A plane was quarantined at the Las Vegas airport this morning after a passenger who had recently been in Africa became sick, but Ebola has been ruled out, officials said.

“After a thorough assessment, it has been determined that the affected passenger does not meet the criteria for Ebola,” said Christine Crews, a spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport.

Delta Airlines Flight 495 from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York arrived at 10:55 a.m. and was quarantined at the gate after the passenger vomited while on board, Crews said.

The Clark County Fire Department, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Southern Nevada Health District responded.

Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for Delta Airlines, said passengers were allowed to get off the plane about 12:20 p.m.

Danita Cohen, a spokeswoman for University Medical Center, said the hospital was preparing to isolate patients if needed, but the CDC said it wouldn't be necessary.

Durrant said Delta has procedures in place for when passengers appear to be suffering medical issues during a flight.

“Flight crews are trained to respond to that appropriately,” Durrant said.

JFK International Airport is one of five U.S. airports to begin screening passengers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone for signs of Ebola. The three nations suffer the heaviest death tolls from the epidemic.

Statistics released today by the CDC show 4,024 deaths have been reported in the west African countries.

The screenings will include a series of health-related questions and temperature checks with a non-contact thermometer.

According to the CDC, symptoms of Ebola include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.

The CDC confirmed the first travel-associated case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States on Sept. 30. The affected patient, 42-year-old Thomas Eric Duncan, died Wednesday in Texas.