CDC Sees Low Ebola Risk In Passengers Pulled From Dubai Flight

Emergency crews in protective gear removed five passengers with flu-like symptoms from a commercial airliner that arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport from Dubai on Monday, but U.S. health authorities said the possibility of Ebola was “exceedingly low.”

Emirates flight 237 landed at Logan around 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT) and emergency medical workers subsequently escorted the ill travelers off the aircraft, authorities said.

Massachusetts Port Authority spokesman Matthew Brelis said none of the ill passengers had recently been to West Africa, which is struggling with a deadly Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 4,000 people since March, but alarms were signaled after their arrival “out of an abundance of caution.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was no evidence the sick passengers had any recent contact with anyone from countries at the center of the Ebola outbreak.

“Given this, the chance that the passengers could have Ebola is thought to be exceedingly low,” CDC spokeswoman Shelly Diaz said.

She did not elaborate, but the incident appeared to be the latest in a series of recent false alarms at airports linked to concerns about the potential spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

A spokesman for Emirates said the airline was “cooperating with the authorities in Boston. The safety of our passengers and crew is always of paramount importance.”