On Wednesday, an Emirates aircraft was quarantined upon landing in New York after several passengers and crew members exhibited flu-like symptoms.
Flight EK 203 - which took off from Dubai - was met with ambulances, fire trucks, and police. At least ten people were reportedly hospitalized.
The Dubai-based airline has released a statement confirming the news, but the nature of the illness is yet to be revealed.
A total of 19 people aboard the 14-hour flight showed signs of an illness, with symptoms including fever, cough, and vomiting.
According to New York's deputy commissioner for disease control, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, it is unusual for this many people to fall sick simultaneously on a single commercial flight.
As a precaution, all passengers were screened by local medical personnel before disembarking, of which at least three passengers and seven crew members were transferred to a nearby hospital.
Citing New York City's acting health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, Reuters reported that the hospitalized patients are all in a stable condition and do not require urgent medical attention.
The aircraft, a double-deck Airbus 380, was transferred to another location pending evaluation by emergency officials. In a series of tweets, Emirates gave its account of the incident and apologized for the inconvenience.
"The safety and well-being of our customers and crew is always our top priority," the airline stressed.
Was there a medical outbreak?
Laboratory tests are yet to confirm the illness, but Dr. Barbot said the symptoms point at influenza.
The health commissioner suspects that some of the passengers, who recently performed the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, had contracted the illness there and transmitted it to others on-board.
According to the BBC, Mecca is currently facing a flu outbreak.
While waiting to be cleared, several passengers tweeted about what was going on
Media personality Erin Sykes, who was aboard the flight, said some passengers already had "nasty colds" before takeoff. According to Sykes, she asked a stewardess for a surgical mask but was told there were none available.
And they shared some live footage from the incident
"Ambulances and fire trucks and police all over the place"
In response, this Emirates customer is cancelling his future flight
