A flight that departed from Paris and was headed for Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Wednesday was diverted to Canada because a passenger on board was from a country with an Ebola outbreak.
According to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Air France boarded a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo “in error” on a flight to the United States.
“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” said CBP in an emailed statement. “CBP took decisive action and prohibited the flight carrying that traveler from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and instead, diverted to Montreal, Canada.”
“CBP, in coordination with CDC, is taking the necessary measures to protect public health and reduce the risk of Ebola disease introduction into the United States.”
Ebola is a disease caused by a group of viruses, known as orthoebolaviruses, that can cause serious illness and possibly death, according for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s spread through contact with the body fluids of an infected sick or dead person.
More than 130 deaths have been associated with an Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC. There have been 516 suspected cases and 33 confirmed cases in DRC, according to a daily bulletin published by health authorities, and two confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday, the first time a WHO chief has done so before convening an emergency committee.
According to Flight Aware, Air France flight 378 departed Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport around 3:42. It landed in Montreal at 5:15 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Flight from Paris to Detroit diverted over Ebola concerns
Reporting by Maureen Feighan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
