The second health care worker infected with Ebola flew the day before being diagnosed (and presumably an active carrier of the virus), on the airline I used for 95% of my business travel*:
A second Dallas health-care worker has tested positive for Ebola, officials said Wednesday, as they also asked 132 people who flew with that infected woman on a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland to Dallas on Monday to call the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Officials also warned that additional cases of the deadly virus at the Dallas hospital where the woman worked is "a very real possibility."
...
Jenkins said the second infected woman, who was not identified by name or job title, was isolated within 90 minutes of reporting a fever Tuesday. She is the third person diagnosed in the U.S. with Ebola, which is currently epidemic in three West African countries.
The CDC hours later revealed that the newly infected woman had flown on Monday on Frontier Airlines Flight No.1143 from Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth. The CDC asked all passengers aboard that flight to call 1-800-232-4632 . Frontier Airlines, in its own statement, said passengers who also traveled with the woman on Flight 1142 on Friday from Dallas/Fort Worth to Cleveland should also contact CDC at the same phone number.
So now we have expanded the circle of potential infectees by 132 air travelers, flight crew, the people they came in contact with, the folks that cleaned the plane, the other planes that they then cleaned, those travelers, etc.
The plane was "cleaned" twice:
Frontier Airlines said Flight 1142 remained overnight from Monday and received a thorough cleaning per normal procedures. It was also cleaned again in Cleveland on Tuesday night, the airline said.
"Cleaning per normal procedures" of course, meaning wiped down with rags and basic cleaning solutions. I'm guessing the crew wasn't wearing hazmat suits, and didn't secure and then destroy the materials they used, as the knowledge of the Ebola-stricken passenger hadn't come to light yet.
So did the crew inadvertendly make it worse, and spread the virus?
One sick patient has turned to 2 new cases, which has turned into several hundred (at least) new potential cases to track down and test.
Good thing there is "no viable threat" here in the States.
*I've been a loyal Summit-level status member with Frontier for the last decade. Recently, Frontier changed their rewards policy, and I switched all my business travel to Southwest, and havent flown them for two months. I've flown Frontier planes in and out of Dallas more times than I can remember. Glad I made the switch to Southwest.
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