Son: Rash Led to Monkeypox Scare on Chicago Flight

The son of a Minnesota woman says confusion about a rash she believes was caused by bed bugs prompted officials to keep passengers on her Chicago-bound flight for several hours while she was evaluated for a suspected case of monkeypox.

Roger Sievers tells the Star Tribune that his mother, Lisa, is adopting two children from Uganda. He says while she was talking to mother by phone on a flight home Thursday, Lisa Sievers described a rash she suspected was caused by bed bugs.

Roger Sievers says his grandmother called a hospital to ask what treatment her daughter might need for sores contracted in Africa. Health officials wearing facemasks went to meet the plane when it landed.

Federal health officials later said Sievers' rash wasn't related to monkeypox.