Kind of interesting, I thought.  I can't find much on the web about it yet, but Fox is saying a flight from Hong Kong to Newark has been stuck on the tarmac, with 85 passengers exhibiting flu symptoms.

http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates/2007/03/hong_kong_plane_reported_sitti.html

Plane carrying 85 sick passengers arrives in Newark from Hong Kong NEW YORK (CNN) -- A plane traveling from Hong Kong carrying passengers complaining of flu-like symptoms arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the University Hospital at Newark. "It is believed that the ill passengers were part of a group of more than 80 tourists who sailed together on a river cruise in Asia," Continental Airlines spokesman David Messing told CNN. The group's final travel destination was Montreal, Canada, according to Continental. They were among 272 passengers on the plane, it said. The crew of Continental Flight 98 notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after take-off from Hong Kong when "several passengers appeared ill," according to Continental. A representative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met the plane upon its arrival at Newark, it said. Hospital spokesman Rogers Ramsey said an EMS team was on site but would not say whether the passengers were being treated aboard the plane. CNN's Julian Cummings contributed to this report. http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/03/26/sick.airliner/index.html

Just out of curiosity, I would love to know where those passengers went after they were allowed to disembark, through a closed exit chute. It would seem obvious to me that looking at somebody will not tell you what they are sick with. I do not think that the CDC, NJ Health Dept., and whoever else was involved (including the hospital which was obviously contacted "in case" they were needed) would take this lightly. I do think that they would try to hide whatever investigation they are performing until they are sure of the results.... maybe until they are caught out.

Posted by Niman at FT

Flu-Like Symptoms Affect 85 On Plane From S Korea To US -TV

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- About 85 passengers have complained of flu-like symptoms on board a flight from South Korea that arrived Monday at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, TV reports said. Medical teams went to the airport to meet the passengers, CNN reported.

According to a report on the Star-Ledger Web site, a passenger aboard Continental Flight 98 that landed at the Newark airport weren't being permitted to leave the plane until a doctor or officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection arrived.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires 03-26-071625ET Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/Ne...ternational.na

3 cheers for rapid testing... I think.

Passengers on a flight from Hong Kong to Newark were kept aboard the aircraft for two hours after landing this afternoon because of concern about some sick passengers aboard. They were allowed to disembark after federal health officials concluded the illness was "seasonal flu."
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates/2007/03/cdc_says_illness_on_flight_fro.html

The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: 长江; Traditional Chinese: 長江; pinyin: Cháng Jiāng) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world after the Nile in Africa, the Amazon in South America.

The river is about 6,211 km long and flows from its source in Qinghai Province in western China, eastwards into the East China Sea. It has traditionally been considered a dividing point between northern and southern China, although geographers consider the Qinling-Huai River line to be the official line of geographical division.

Those people need to be isolated until they recover.

BabyGirl wrote: <FONT style=": #222222">Ok the rapid tests usually take 4-20 hours to get a result from. Someone correct me if this is wrong.

Hi on lunch ... no not wrong , more info but last updated Sep 2006... this is for Influenza .. CDC.

Interim Guidance for Influenza Diagnostic Testing During the 2006-07 Influenza Season
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Diagnosis
Clinical Description & Diagnosis
Lab Diagnosis
Role of Lab Diagnosis
Diagnostic Procedures
Rapid Testing: Health Care Professionals
Rapid Testing: Clinical Laboratory Directors
Guidance for 2006-07 Season
Influenza Tests
Diagnostic testing should be considered when an institutional outbreak of influenza is suspected or if test results would influence clinical decision making. A variety of tests are available to diagnose influenza. Rapid diagnostic tests have been increasingly used because they can yield results in a clinically relevant time frame, i.e., approximately 30 minutes; however, the reference standard for diagnosis of influenza remains viral culture. For a comparison of the various available tests see Lab Diagnosis.

Most of the rapid influenza tests are approximately >70% sensitive for detecting influenza and approximately >90% specific compared with virus culture. Thus, false negative results occur more commonly than false positive results. The predictive values of influenza tests depend on the level of influenza activity in the community, exposure of the patient to a contagious person, susceptibility of the patient, the characteristics of the tests (sensitivity and specificity), and the adequacy of specimen collection. Inadequate or inappropriate specimens are more likely to yield false negative results. The tests are most reliable when there is known influenza activity in the community and when they are performed on patients who have signs and symptoms consistent with influenza (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, headache, and malaise) and who are within the first 4 days of illness. However, the symptoms and signs of influenza can vary by age and underlying medical conditions, and not all patients with influenza virus infection will manifest typical symptoms and signs of influenza.

Testing Outpatients for Influenza
Testing does not need to be done on all patients with symptoms of influenza. Once influenza activity has been documented in the community or geographic area, a clinical diagnosis can be made for patients with signs and symptoms consistent with influenza, especially during periods of peak influenza activity in the community. For individual patients seen in ambulatory care settings, tests are most useful when they are likely to help with diagnostic and treatment decisions, such as the use of influenza antiviral agents. It is important to understand that not every patient with influenza will benefit from treatment with antiviral medication. For recommendations on the use of antiviral agents during the 2006-07 influenza season see Recommendations for Using Antiviral Agents for Influenza for the 2006-07 Influenza Season

Testing Inpatients for Influenza
Detection of influenza and prompt implementation of control measures is critical to the control of institutional outbreaks. When there is influenza activity in the community, clinicians should consider influenza testing, including viral culture, for patients who develop signs and symptoms of influenza while they are in a health-care facility. This should be done as part of a broader surveillance strategy for influenza as discussed in Updated Infection Control Measures for the Prevention and Control of Influenza in Health-Care Facilities.

Specimens for Influenza Testing
Nasopharyngeal and nasal specimens (swab, aspirate, wash) are preferred over other upper respiratory samples, such as throat swabs, for diagnostic testing because of higher quantities of detectable virus. Specimens should be collected within the first 4 days of illness. For specific details regarding specimen collection for rapid diagnostic testing, consult package inserts and the laboratory performing the test or see Lab Diagnosis.

Alternatives to Rapid Influenza Diagnostic Tests
If rapid diagnostic tests are not available, other tests can be used to detect influenza virus infection (see Lab Diagnosis). Immunofluorescence (fluorescent antibody staining) is available at many hospital laboratories and can generally yield test results in 2 to 4 hours. Viral culture is available in many laboratories and has some important advantages over rapid tests, but often does not provide results in time to help with clinical decisions such as the use of antiviral drug treatment. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for influenza viruses is available at a limited number of laboratories, but results might not be available in a timely manner to assist clinicians. Routine serological testing for influenza requires paired sera, does not provide results to help with clinical decision-making, and is not recommended. Therefore, a rapid influenza test or immunofluorescence are the tests of choice to help with decisions to use antiviral medications. When such tests are not available, the decision to use antiviral medications should be made on clinical grounds rather than waiting for the results of viral culture. For more information on antiviral treatment of influenza see Antivirals.

Most importantly, the influenza viruses isolated in viral culture are used to characterize the influenza A subtypes and strains of circulating influenza A and B viruses, including the degree of similarity or antigenic drift from vaccine strains, the emergence of antiviral resistance, and the identification of novel human influenza A subtypes of pandemic potential. Since influenza virus strains are continuously evolving, laboratory-based surveillance for influenza viral isolates is critically important to the selection of strains for the next season’s influenza vaccine.

Page last modified September 22, 2006
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/diagnosis/0607testingguide.htm
    

From an anonymous (of necessity) but reliable source, who works in emergency management and planning:

Made a call and was told this was all precautionary. I guess a stewardess noticed that a lot of passengers on the plane were showing the same signs. She noticed the coughing as being the main symptom with a lot of sweating.

The authorities were notified and were in place as the plane arrived. The geographical location of the passengers, coupled with the symptoms, were a cause for concern. Upon the arrival of medical teams, the room O2 of the patients was checked and was determined that no one was suffering from any kind of respiratory distress. All were displaying normal room O2 levels. Upon examination of on site lung sounds and the O2 levels of passengers, it was determined that patients were just suffering from common influenza.

Blood samples were taken and patients were logged on contact information and where they will be and where they are going. The teams that responded to the plane, did have on hand, isolation equipment and were prepared to declare that on the plane.

Newark: Air Passengers Checked for Sickness

 

By JOHN HOLL

A Continental Airlines flight from Hong Kong was held on the tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport for nearly three hours yesterday while representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention interviewed passengers with flulike symptoms.

 

Karen Hunter, a spokeswoman for the agency, said seven passengers showed signs of fever and reported vomiting before Flight 98 took off. During the 14-hour flight, several more passengers, members of a Canada-based travel group, showed signs of illness. After the flight landed, an expert in contagious diseases determined that the passengers probably had a routine virus and were not infected with the avian flu, Ms. Hunter said. All of the 272 passengers on board were allowed to debark and continue their travels.

    March 27, 2007
Sick Flight's Passengers May Have "Seasonal Flu"Yesterday afternoon, a Continental flight from Hong Kong landed at Newark Liberty International Airport but passengers were held because some were feeling ill. In a reassuring piece of news, apparently seven passengers had "signs of fever and reported vomiting" even before the flight took off. We thought that Hong Kong's airport had those post-avian bird flu scanners that shows if a passenger has a higher body temperature than usual - and stop people who are sick.

The flight contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which interviewed the sick passengers once they landed and decided they had a "seasonal flu." Apparently the sick passengers were part of a group who had traveled on a river cruise in Asia and were continuing their travels to Canada. The flight was allowed to fly its next leg to Montreal.

http://www.gothamist.com/2007/03/27/sick_flights_pa.php
    

The flight contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which interviewed the sick passengers once they landed and decided they had a "seasonal flu

 

 

Well that says it all folks THEY WERE NOT TESTED. Regardless of the fact there are mild forms of h5n1 circulating in Egypt etc.

 

 

In a reassuring piece of news, apparently seven passengers had "signs of fever and reported vomiting" even before the flight took off.

 

Am not seeing reassuring part of this.