U.S. air marshal boarded flight to U.S. after syringe attack in Nigerian airport
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Version 0 of 1. An on-duty U.S. air marshal was attacked with a syringe in Nigeria’s main airport Sunday, but FBI officials said the syringe didn’t appear to include deadly pathogens such as the Ebola virus, the Associated Press reported. The marshal boarded a United flight after the attack in Lagos, landing in Houston and then went to the hospital, the AP reported. A law enforcement official told CNN that the marshal “felt fine” during the 12-hour flight. The FBI said in a statement that “out of an abundance of caution” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted an on-site screening of the marshal when he landed Monday morning. “The victim did not exhibit any signs of illness during the flight and was transported to a hospital upon landing for further testing,” the statement read. “None of the testing conducted has indicated a danger to other passengers.” It’s still unclear what was in the syringe, though. CDC’s initial testing was negative for deadly infectious agents, including “any bad stuff” such as Ebola, FBI spokesman Christos Sinos told AP. The World Health Organization announced Tuesday that West Africa has more than 4,000 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola. The virus is mostly concentrated in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, with just 21 of those cases in Nigeria. But officials in Nigeria are cautious about the epidemic within their borders; this week, the country’s health ministry announced 477 people in the oil city of Port Harcourt are under surveillance for Ebola. |