Flight Bound for U.S. Diverted After Ebola Threat

A plane bound for the U.S. had to make an emergency stop in Canada after Homeland Security officials got wind of someone on board the flight who could have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus. The Air France flight was headed for Detroit, Michigan, when Customs and Border Protection learned of the passenger, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and ordered the plane to land in Montreal. “Due to entry restrictions in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” a spokesperson for CBP said. Health authorities say more than 130 people have died amid over 500 suspected cases of the disease in the DRC, along with another death and at least two confirmed cases in nearby Uganda. The World Health Organization has declared the current outbreak of the disease—which can cause horrific symptoms like bleeding from the eyes—a “public health emergency of international concern.” The Bundibugyo strain behind the outbreak is thought to be less fatal than other variants, but still carries a mortality rate of up to 40 percent.