GOP rep: Ebola raises concerns for airline passengers

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) is expressing concern about the impact of the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the U.S. on the nation’s aviation sector. 

Thomas Eric Duncan was diagnosed with the deadly virus in the Dallas area after flying last month from Liberia to the U.S. 

Kingston said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Cavuto” show that he was confident that U.S. health and airline official have the Ebola situation under control, but he said he was still concerned about the potential for the virus to spread in airports. 

“Ebola is a little bit more predictable than SARS because as you’ll remember, when we had the SARS scare, it was an airborne illness and that’s completely different particularly when you’re talking about people flying,” Kingston said. “But 3 billion people fly a year. A hundred thousand flights a day. So we all need to be concerned. And why that hospital dropped the ball when he said he was from Liberia — they did not follow protocol.” 

U.S. officials initially sought to keep the identity and travel details of the Texas Ebola patient under wraps to prevent panic as news spread of the first domestic diagnosis of the disease, which had traditionally been associated only with African countries. 

However, Duncan’s identity was confirmed by relatives and his flight details were released Wednesday by United Airlines.  

Both the airline and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said that passengers who shared flights with Duncan are not at risk of catching Ebola because he was not yet exhibiting symptoms of disease during his travel on Sept. 20. 

Kingston said in the interview that he agreed with the officials’ assessments. 

“If Mr. Duncan came into contact with people prior to the 24th when he showed the symptoms, they should be OK,” he said. “And then even after that, only if they were in contact with his bodily fluids — sweat or if he threw up on them or if they exchanged saliva, something like that.” 

He added that Cavuto was understandably concerned about the potential spread of Ebola, however. 

“I don’t think you should be worried. I think you should be concerned, which you obviously are,” Kingston said. 

The Georgia Republican, who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate earlier this year, moved to reassure the television host with scientific facts about the way the disease is spread. 

“I think that by talking about it is a good thing that we need to know what we’re up against,” Kingston said. “The one thing that I would add to your fact list though is that people can become infected and it might take as long as 20 days to manifest and know. In other words, you would not have even seen the symptoms until 20 days. Now, some cases, it’s five to eight days. So — but during that period of time, you are not contagious.”