New York Republican Rep. Peter King is demanding more training and stricter protocols at JFK airport after a man died on a flight from Nigeria – and the CDC allegedly did only a "cursory" exam to rule out Ebola.
The New York Post reports the 63-year-old man boarded an Arik Air plane in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday night, became ill during the flight and died before the plane landed at JFK Thursday morning.
No other information on the man was released.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, customs officials and Port Authority police boarded the plane after it landed.
"My understanding was that the passenger was vomiting in the seat," King told the newspaper. "The CDC went on the plane, examined the dead body and said the person did not have Ebola."
"It was what I was told a cursory examination," he added. "The Port Authority cops and personnel from Customs and Border Protection were there, and they were told there was no danger because the person did not have Ebola.
"But their concern was, how could you tell so quickly? And what adds to the concern is how wrong the CDC has been over the past few weeks."
Between 70 and 100 passengers a day arrive at JFK from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three West African countries that are the epicenter of the outbreak, King said.
"These individuals transit the airport with the rest of the traveling population, including using the restrooms," King wrote to Jeh Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in a letter Thursday.
"Only after they arrive at the Customs and Border Patrol primary screening location that they are separated and sent to secondary inspection for a medical check and to complete the questionnaire."
King wants Homeland Security to beef up protocol for dealing with high-risk passengers in flight and at the terminal. He also demands training and safety equipment improvements for the Port Authority police and Customs and Border Patrol officials who can come into contact with high-risk passengers.
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