The City of Cleveland has posted a press release that six passengers who were traveling on Frontier Airlines from Cleveland to Tampa were sick during the flight. There is no information about what type of illness these people had, their symptoms, whether or not they were hospitalized, or if they have recovered. The flight was on January 1, 2019.
The cause of illness is unknown, but a report from Frontier Airlines states that the passengers may have used a public drinking fountain before they boarded the airplane. The Cleveland Department of Health is contacting these six people to conduct an interview. They are also trying to confirm whether those patients drank from the fountain or if there were other exposures in common.
Foodborne illnesses can be caused by bacteria that can exist in water. The press release states that “water borne illnesses generally have a longer incubation period than what we saw in this instance.” Not many pathogens can cause sickness within a few minutes or hours.
Cleveland Water has not reported any water safety instances in the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport vicinity. And more than 11,000 passengers traveled through the airport on New Year’s Day, and there have been no other reports of illness.
The water fountains on Concourse A, whether the Frontier Airlines flight boarded, were immediately closed down when the report of illness was received. Public health officials are testing fountains at the airport. Samples have been sent to an external Ohio EPA-certified lab for evaluation. It will take 24 to 48 hours before results are available.
