Jet quarantined at JFK after 100 suffer flu-like illness during flight

ABOUT 100 passengers and crew were struck with a flu-like illness during an Emirates flight from Dubai to New York yesterday.

The jet was briefly quarantined at New York’s John F Kennedy airport when it landed with around 521 passengers at shortly after 9am local time, US authorities said.

The jet’s pilot declared a medical emergency before landing and reported two male passengers on board with extremely high fevers and approximately 100 passengers “coughing non-stop”, according to ABC 7 NY, a local news website.

Heath officials carried out medical checks on passengers and evaluated their symptoms. While they are still processing tests to determine the cause, officials said the symptoms point to a flu virus.

Erin Sykes, one of the passengers, posted video of officials wearing masks and gloves and taking the temperature of passengers on the tarmac. Ms Sykes said she saw a few passengers being taken off the plane first for medical attention, but she added that “many, many” others were showing signs of illness. She described them as suffering from “very intense coughing” and being “violently sick – going into the bathroom a lot”.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said around 100 people complained of feeling sick on Emirates flight 203. Their symptoms included cough and fever, the agency said.

At least 10 passengers were taken to Jamaica Hospital in Queens for treatment while nine others “refused medical attention”, said Eric Phillips, a spokesman for Bill de Blasio, the New York city mayor. Mr Phillips said some of the passengers appeared to have come from Mecca, Saudi Arabia – which is currently experiencing an influenza outbreak – before boarding the plane in Dubai.

Passengers who were not affected were able to continue on their way a few hours after the plane landed.

Sarah Sanders, the White House spokesman, said officials were monitoring the situation and Donald Trump, the US president, was being updated as new information became available. The Dubai-based Emirates airline initially said that 10 passengers “were taken ill” on the flight and were transported to hospital. It is unclear why there was a wide disparity in numbers.

The aircraft was taken to a location away from the terminal so that emergency officials could evaluate the situation, officials from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey confirmed in a statement.

The plane involved was a doubledeck Airbus A388 – the world’s largest passenger aircraft – according to Flightaware.com.