(Cuyahoga County) - The City of Cleveland today released a statement following a notification from Frontier Airlines of six passengers who reported an illness after traveling on a flight from Cleveland to Tampa:
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) received a notification from Frontier Airlines on New Year’s Day that six passengers reported being sick on a flight from CLE to Tampa. The safety of passengers at CLE is our top priority and we are conducting a thorough investigation.
While the cause of the illness is unknown, an early report from Frontier indicated each of the passengers may have used a public drinking fountain before the flight. Cleveland Department of Public Health (CDPH) is contacting each of the six affected passengers to conduct an interview. We are also working to confirm if all six passengers did in fact drink water from the fountain.
CDPH, Cleveland Water and CLE airport staff are working collaboratively to investigate all potential causes, including passenger activities before arriving at the airport. Based on our expertise, water borne illnesses generally have a longer incubation period than what we saw in this instance. Also, Cleveland Water has no known water safety issues in the vicinity of CLE, but is collecting additional street-level samples to verify.
Since Frontier’s initial report referenced the water fountain, airport staff immediately closed down and sanitized all fountains on Concourse A. CLE airport staff and CDPH are testing fountains and will send water samples to an external Ohio EPA-certified lab for evaluation. Due to the nature of the testing, it will take approximately 24-48 hours before results are ready.
On New Year’s Day, more than 11,000 passengers traveled through CLE and no other passengers have reported illnesses.”
Tampa fire officials say four adults and two children were complaining of nausea and vomiting when their Frontier Airlines flight landed yesterday. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport officials shut off all the water fountains in Concourse A, out of concerns about a common link between illnesses.
(Photos by Ken Robinson/WTAM)
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