Flight sure for US diverted to Canada amid journey restrictions tied to Ebola outbreak

TORONTO (AP) — An Air France flight sure for Detroit was diverted to Montreal after a passenger from the Congo boarded a flight in Paris “in error” amid flight restrictions tied to the Ebola outbreak, U.S. Customs and Border Protection mentioned Thursday.

A spokesperson for the company says the passenger “should not have boarded” the airplane Wednesday as a consequence of U.S. entry restrictions put in place to cut back the chance of Ebola spreading.

The spokesman mentioned in an electronic mail officers “took decisive action and prohibited the flight carrying that traveler from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and instead, diverted to Montreal, Canada.”

Air France mentioned the Congolese passenger was denied entry into the U.S. as a consequence of new laws that vacationers from sure nations, together with the Congo, can enter solely via Washington.

The Department of Homeland Security additionally mentioned that as of Thursday all U.S.-bound American residents and everlasting residents who’ve been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the earlier 21 days should solely enter via Washington Dulles International Airport for enhanced screening.

Craig Currie, spokesman for the Public Health Agency of Canada, mentioned U.S. officers knowledgeable Canadian authorities that the airplane was refused entry as a consequence of their non permanent journey restrictions for anybody who traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan inside the earlier 21 days.

Currie mentioned a public well being official in Montreal assessed the traveler as asymptomatic. He mentioned the traveler has flown again to Paris.

“Air France flight AFR378, along with all other passengers, continued to its original destination of Detroit,” Currie mentioned in an electronic mail.

The World Health Organization on Sunday declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of worldwide concern. The outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo virus, which is rarer than others and there’s no out there vaccine or medication for it.