Given the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the CDC has issues guidance about Ebola virus infection for Airline Flight Crews, Cleaning Personnel, and Cargo Personnel.

The guidance states among other things that the Ebola Virus is:

severe, often-fatal disease…
…likelihood of contracting Ebola is extremely low unless a person has direct contact with the body fluids of a person or animal that is infected…

Flight crews are advised to follow specific procedures when they see a passenger or crew member with symptoms like a fever, jaundice, or bleeding and have recently traveled to, from or through an at risk area.

• Keep the sick person separated from others as much as possible.
• Provide the sick person with a surgical mask (if the sick person can tolerate wearing one) to reduce the number of droplets expelled into the air by talking, sneezing, or coughing.
• Give tissues to a sick person who cannot tolerate a mask. Provide a plastic bag for disposing of used tissues.
• Wear impermeable disposable gloves for direct contact with blood or other body fluids.

The list of guidelines for cleaning crews is even longer.

Pilots are required by law to report deaths or I’ll passengers that meet criteria before arrival into the United States.

Delta operates a few flights to west Africa including Lagos, Accra and Dakar. You can see the Africa route map here.

On a related note, a patient with the Ebola virus will be treated at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital in a special unit.

From the AJC article:

Quoting an unidentified source, CNN reported Thursday evening that a medical charter flight left Cartersville to evacuate the two Americans from Monrovia, Liberia.