COA777

If you missed it, a man confirmed with Ebola collapsed and subsequently died upon arrival on a flight from Monrovia via Lome to Lagos last week (sources: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28498665 and http://www.news.com.au/world/nigeria...-1227002910950). He apparently did not have any symptoms upon boarding (http://america.aljazeera.com/article...ia-health.html).

With United operating daily 787 service between Lagos and Houston (today's arrival in Houston from Lagos is flying on to Denver as Flt. 1126), does anyone know if the U.S. Government is now taking extra precautions to screen incoming passengers on the United flight? Keeping this limited to United, as this is a United thread, but Delta and Arik Air also respectively provide service between Lagos and Atlanta/New York JFK.

goalie

Nothing from United yet, and can't speak for "The G", but your best bet is to keep checking here for any updates to United's travel notices

http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/trav...lnotices.aspx?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Ebola has been present since long before UA started service there. If someone is obviously seriously ill, they will be denied boarding. If they're obviously seriously ill on arrival in U.S., there may be some evaluation. Other than that, business as usual. Someone who has just been infected displays no symptoms, so the risk is always there. No hysteria required - yet. There's also malaria, etc.

docbert

The difference being that Ebola can spread person-to-person, where with Malaria that is extremely (extremely!) unlikely.

LilAbner

On one of my flights from BKK-NRT (upstairs) a doctor sitting next to me sanitized EVERYTHING for nearly 45 minutes and volunteered to do my area also, which I appreciated.^

The good doctor told me that if I wanna get sick, go to the doctor, go to a hospital, or get on a plane!

berto714

Ebola has not always been present in Nigeria, however. This was the first reported case in Nigeria. So I would say this is different.

ani90

You are wrong. Ebola is endemic in Nigeria as the animal hosts abound. There have been numerous sporadic, albeit small outbreaks in Nigeria over the last century.

berto714

If there have really been numerous cases of ebola in Nigeria, why does the CDC not know about it? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/m...ebolatable.pdf

TennisNoob

This is scary, I just got off a plane not too long ago that came from Lagos before leaving to SFO.

ani90

I would certainly not regard CDC - A US government organization - or US media outlets as authorities on infectious diseases in Africa. CDC relies only on few blood samples sent to it and does not oversee health in Africa.

Anyone who has been in West Africa knows that there are numerous unexplained deaths occurring everyday, many after brief febrile illnesses. As early as in 1988 antibodies to Ebola virus have been reported in Nigerians.. Of course the government always does their best to deny Ebola exists in Nigeria and there have been numerous disputed scares over the years.

According to international Travel Advisories "Serological evidence suggests the presence of Ebola virus in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone."

With the freedom of travel across West Africa, it is hard to imagine that people are yet to die of Ebola in Nigeria in the current outbreak - that the CDC isn't been made aware of it doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Sudden cluster of acute illnesses causing death are more likely to be attributed to Juju and witchcraft, or malaria or thyphoid fever, than a viral illness - no autopsies are performed and no blood is analyzed. Common things are common and even with the current outbreak Ebola is a very rare cause of death in west Africa - someone dying of fever in West Africa today is numerous times more likely to have malaria and extremely unlikely to have Ebola. That said, at present time might be best to avoid West African airports if one is really concerned.

bocastephen

I had two customers booked to Monrovia on BA when this outbreak was getting revved up, and when I tried a refund or rebook due to the health crisis, I was told "sorry, no crisis we're aware of, you're out of luck".

My guess is UA will sing the same tune until the CDC or WHO issues a travel warning or restricts travel to the region.

Unfortunately this is a very scary disease and one or two mutation hops from a contact contagion to an airborne one, which would result in widespread global panic.

embarcadero1

The CDC does not oversee health anywhere, including the US, where it's role in creating and overseeing health policies is limited. The CDC relies on volunteary cooperation from states (including US states) to maintain its surveillance network. That said, it is one of the most important institutions of its kind in the world and it would be foolish to think they don't have a good understanding of what's going on now in West Africa.

To be involved outside US Borders would require a formal invitation.

The State Department, not the CDC, would issue travel warnings and/or new procedures for screening passengers prior to boarding. Such a move would have obvious and potentially catastrophic consequences for the economies of the nations involved. It would be a major diplomatic and geopolitical event.

I'm not downplaying the gravity of the situation, just pointing out the consequences and barriers to issuing a travel advisory.

FLLDL

As others have mentioned above there have been no documented Ebola outbreaks in Nigeria in the past, and certainly none in Lagos. If Ebola takes hold in Nigeria I would expect the handful of Nigeria-US direct flights to come under very heavy scrutiny and would certainly be at risk for cancellation/suspension.

Frankly the Nigerians are very lucky that the man collapsed on arrival vs slipping through and making his way into the city. Anyone who has spent time in Lagos can imagine what a catastrophe it would be if Ebola took hold there given the dire public health/sanitation issues in the city.

trini19

With the very small amount of confirmed infected ebola patients right now in Nigeria (less than 5 reported in the news in past few days) I would assume nothing will happen. The same as nothing happened when a single person came to the US and was confirmed after as having MERS.

ironmanjt

This is a bit overdramatic, however...HIV is also "one or two mutation hops" from contact to airborne and fortunately it's not the 80s any more and people aren't worried about shaking hands with HIV carriers...