An Emirates Airline plane flying from Dubai was quarantined after landing Wednesday afternoon at New York’s JFK airport, after multiple passengers were found to be ill with high fevers and coughing.
While initial reports placed the estimated number of sick people on board the plane at as many as 100, the airline said that about 10 passengers had fallen ill and were attended to upon landing.
According to CBS New York, a government source briefed on the situation said that there was no evidence of a security or terror-related issue.
The airline’s home office told US officials that the incident was likely caused by food poisoning, CBS New York said. However, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's spokesman Eric Phillips suggested that the passengers might have been exposed to a flu outbreak during a stopover in Mecca.