What’s With All the Planes Full of Sick People?

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Author of Be Ready for Anything and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course

Has anyone else found all those planes full of sick people rather alarming? If you aren’t familiar with this, let me enlighten you with a look at all the quarantined flights (and one that probably should have been) in the past week.

It all seems like the start of a science fiction movie with a strain of something accidentally or deliberately released. We just have to wonder what it is that’s going to kill us all.

The Plane from Dubai to JFK

The first one that came to my attention was a flight into the United States from the Dubai. (FYI: Vanilla Ice was on that flight and that stupid song has been stuck in my head ever since.) On that plane headed toward JFK International Airport in New York City, approximately 100 passengers and members of the crew became ill. The CDC met the flight at the airport and determined that out of the plane full of 521 people, about a hundred of them self-reported fevers of over 100 degrees and coughing.

19 of those people were found to be ill, 10 or 11 (reports vary) of them enough to be hospitalized by the CDC and the other 500+ people on that plane were sent on their ways…all over the nation, as JFK is a hub for international flights.

Emirates‘ home office told U.S. officials it believes this incident was caused by food poisoning, but passengers also suggested a nasty flu virus could also be to blame.

“Even well before the flight when we were online getting on board (in Dubai), there were people that were obviously very sick that should not have been allowed to get on board in the first place,” said passenger Erin Sykes.

Some point to a particularly aggressive strain of the virus ravaging Mecca, where some of the passengers had recently spent time. (source)

But don’t worry. CNN reported that it’s “just the flu or common cold.” No biggie. That was on September 5th.

Now, if it was just the one plane, I’d still be kind of creeped out because I read a lot of books about pandemics that kill off most of the world’s population, but I probably wouldn’t have thought much more about it.

But it wasn’t.

The Plane from Algeria to Southern France

On the same day as the UAE flight was briefly quarantined, 147 passengers on a flight into the Perpignan airport in the south of France were held for over an hour when it was feared that a child on board the plane was suffering from cholera. CHOLERA?

“It is likely the child is carrying cholera and they will be evacuated to the hospital for examination,” said firefighters.

The plane had traveled from Oran in Algeria, where a recent cholera epidemic has left three dead and over 70 people contaminated.

The other passengers – 147 in total – and members of the flight crew were let off the plan shortly after 3.15 pm after being held on-board for just over an hour, according to reports in the French press.

They were eventually allowed off after disinfecting their hands. (source)

The good news is that the little boy did not have cholera. He just had regular old vomiting and diarrhea during the flight.

The Two Planes from Europe to Philadelphia

The following day, passengers from two different flights originating in Paris and Munich and landing in Philadelphia became ill enough for the CDC to be contacted. According to a Customs and Border Control spokesperson, 12 passengers, who had attended the hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (sound familiar?) had complained of sore throats and coughs were not considered to be “extremely ill.”

All 250 people on the two flights were assessed and everyone who wasn’t sick (yet) was released to go travel wherever it is that they were going.

The Plane from Nigeria to London

Possibly the strangest story yet is the one about the flight from Nigeria to London. The flight happened before all the other flights, but the information just came out on the news on the 8th. A Nigerian naval officer has been diagnosed with monkeypox but not until after everyone was already gone from the flight to their corners of the earth.

 Here’s my first question: What the heck is monkeypox?

  • Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in remote parts of central and west Africa, near tropical rainforests.
  • The monkeypox virus is similar to human smallpox, a disease that has been eradicated in 1980. Although monkeypox is much milder than smallpox, it can be fatal.
  • The monkeypox virus is mostly transmitted to people from various wild animals such as rodents and
  • primates,
  • but has limited secondary spread through human-to-human transmission.
  • Typically, case fatality in monkeypox outbreaks has been between 1% and 10%, with most deaths occurring in younger age groups.
  • There is no specific treatment or vaccine available although prior smallpox vaccination was highly effective in preventing monkeypox as well. (source)

But there’s no need to worry about all this.

The risk to the wider public is considered to be very low, PHE (Public Health England) said.

PHE  has contacted 50 people it considers to be at risk, including those sitting closest to the patient on the flight from Abuja to Heathrow on Sunday, September 2.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said “all necessary steps” were being taken but that no other personnel had developed symptoms.

The initial symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion.

A painful rash with open sores can develop, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body.

The rash changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off. If the disease infects the eye it can lead to scarring of the cornea and, in some cases, blindness.

Dr. Michael Jacobs, clinical director of infection at the Royal Free said: “Monkeypox is, in most cases, a mild condition which will resolve on its own and have no long-term effects on a person’s health. Most people recover within several weeks. (source)

Monkeypox certainly sounds delightful.

So what are we looking at here?

At this point, probably nothing.

Altogether, it’s pretty alarming when you see this many flights in a week’s time with people who are ill. But it’s probably not extraordinary. In fact, it’s most likely a common occurrence in air travel today. These stories just all happened to make the news within a few days of one another.

But two things should really give us pause.

First is just how easily an illness can spread from one part of the world to another. A pandemic could easily occur these days because of the speed of travel from one side of the earth to the opposite.  You can read more about the way deadly illnesses spread in this article.

Secondly, if this happens all the time, why are we just now hearing about all these cases? Is this some kind of subtle hint that a massive pandemic is coming? We can’t forget depopulation enthusiast Bill Gates’ grim warning earlier this year about how the next pandemic disease would kill off 30 million people within 6 months.

At a discussion hosted by the Massachusetts Medical Society and the New England Journal of Medicine, Gates warned that we are not prepared for a major pandemic illness.

“…there’s one area though where the world isn’t making much progress,” Gates said, “and that’s pandemic preparedness…”

…Gates presented a simulation by the Institute for Disease Modeling that found that a new flu like the one that killed 50 million people in the 1918 pandemic would now most likely kill 30 million people within six months.

And the disease that next takes us by surprise is likely to be one we see for the first time at the start of an outbreak, like what happened recently with SARS and MERS viruses…

“The world needs to prepare for pandemics in the same serious way it prepares for war…”

The one time the military tried a sort of simulated war game against a smallpox pandemic, the final score was “smallpox one, humanity zero,” Gates said. (source)

While there’s no need to go into pandemic lockdown right now, this trend of planes full of sick people is definitely something to watch.

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived, and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. She is widely republished across alternative media and  Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses. You can find her on FacebookPinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.

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  • Thanks Daisy!

    I feel we all are living in a Sci-Fi world. It’s Crazy!!!! So much coming at us from all directions to do us harm.

    God Bless!!!!

  • [REDACTED], under the mental affliction of [REDACTED] resulting from life long indoctrination in [REDACTED]taught to them by [REDACTED], are creating all of these problems by putting their [REDACTED] into policy. The result is always the same when that happens: very very bad things follow.

      • I would disagree with you for the most part. Almost everything today is being made about left or right. And…its not the Right who is behind this politicising. Movies and the arts are all about your political leanings…watch the virtue signaling shows on tv lately…Oscars, MTV awards….

        Sports are the latest to be politicised…it was the last vestige of escapism for most peopl ein this country who were looking to just get away from the madness…yet….the madness has made its way into sports. Lebron, ring a bell? How about CK? And just this weekend in tennis, Serena Williams.

        Education system…all political. I bet Betsy DeVos would agree, along with the many conservative students who are keeping their mouths shut, in order to keep from being the next victim in their crusade against free thought and speech.

        Religion….where do I start? I think you know where I am going with this…

        Contrary to what you said, there is a major political storm on the horizon and come November, it could turn into the nastiest event this country could face in my life time.

        Personally, I don’t believe in the divisive agenda before us…but I will keep it in sight.

        • Renov8, you’ve got some great points there. I suppose I don’t think that sick people on planes are necessarily the work of a specific political party but you’re right on with the rest of it. The redaction, of course, is from the derogatory terms that only fuel the fire.

          • I am going to defer on the sick planes for now. Its rather odd, to see this many in a compressed time frame. In my mind, it is unusual, considering the amout of flights everyday, from across the world, that these four would happen within days of each other…

            Redact all you want, it’s your site. I write it as I see it, without playing the pc game.

            I appreciate the response.

      • I agree, there are a lot of other issues/circumstances that are playing into this, Scriptural and Prophetic….Yahuah uses whatever means to carry out the words that have been spoken….His plans (whether you believe or not; it’s up to all), go forth and accomplish, not returning empty or void, but everything they were sent to do:

        6 Seek יהוה while He is to be found, call on Him while He is near. 7 Let the wrong forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to יהוה, who has compassion on him, and to our Elohim, for He pardons much. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares יהוה. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from the heavens, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so is My Word that goes forth from My mouth – it does not return to Me empty, but shall do what I please, and shall certainly accomplish what I sent it for. Isaiah 55:6=11

  • I don’t find it a coincidence that the CDC was called in multiple times. I don’t find it a coincidence that the numbers were greatly exaggerated in the beginning. I also know that the CDC greatly exaggerates the dangers of the flu. Most healthy people can handle it. I also know they are just waiting for a pandemic. There is an executive order that allows for mass vaccination in the event of a pandemic. My suggestion would be for this scenario or any SHTF scenario, begin now to build your immune system and get healthy. I personally am not the least bit worried because my family is prepared and has been for that.

  • So what precautions can one take as they are preparing to fly internationally? What can one do while they are flying? What do you recommend??

    • Well, this is a tough one. There’s nothing you can do about certain illnesses, and my suggestions will not be well-received by some people.

      1) If you are seated near someone who is visibly sick, ask to be moved.
      2) When I fly, I use alcohol-based hand sanitizer and bleach wipes. I wash the arms of my seat and the little tray table with bleach wipes as soon as I sit down, and I apply hand-sanitizer repeatedly. (It dissolves quickly so must be reapplied.)
      3) I’m not above bringing in some N95 masks and wearing them if I am concerned.
      4) Try not to travel when your immune system is compromised.

      The problem is, what if people aren’t showing signs of illness? I guess good hand hygiene is your safest bet.

      • Thank you for the tips. I was planning to bring hand sanitizer, but the idea of bleach wipes and masks are good ideas too.

  • Ugh, how I hate flying any more. It’s just become torture. Now in addition to the “security theater,” I have to fear catching an illness from the other passengers. The worst is that so many of us travel by plane over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think I am going to wear an N100 mask on planes and subways this winter. I see Japanese tourists wearing surgical masks on the subway and I think they have the right idea.

    • You are so right ,the stress of going through security being treated like a criminal, being basically trapped on a flying prison with who knows who, might have… God only knows what, is a nightmare , , now forget it I would rather drive or not go at all

  • AMERICANS LOVE SATAN so much,they’ll celebrate his sons take over of america ,even while knowing he’ll send most of them to hell,the people rush to do evil,but have NO knowledge of good,SEPTEMBER 11,is the LORDS birthday,and its the LAST day given to everyone to return to him OR FACE being destroyed,america has chosen destruction,they will NEVER give up satan,mystery babylon the not so great, will die a god awful death,the BIG PLAGUE is coming from their own military,and it will kill most americans,but it can’t be stopped,they want it….

  • I saw the news about three of the planes and wondered about it.
    Especially those with people returning from Mecca.

    Years ago the I.T. guy for our office attended the hajj. When he came back he had lost a LOT of weight. He said he got sick there. I suspect that anyone who is not used to the conditions there (like people from the U.S.) might get sick. So, I wasn’t too worried about it. But still – I did give it some thought.

    Monkeypox sounds awful. I’ve had the small pox vaccination something like 55 or more years ago. Wonder if it is still good.

  • The only airframe in existence that introduces fresh air into the cabin is the Boeing 787. All other pressurized cabins recirculate 100% of the polluted breatheings for all to enjoy. The only new air afforded is run through the engine first so that you get that telltale kerosene smell wafting throughout the environment.
    Commercial flight has become too dangerous, toxic and invasive. If I can’t get there by ground, then I’m not-a-going!

  • “Prepping” is laughed at (out of fear? ignorance? normalcy bias?) by many folks. But each and every one of these airplanes full of people demonstrates _WHY_ pandemics are no joke. Only the disease or “food poisoning” of each flight spared us a world of hurt. We were all lucky. This time.

    Any epidemiologist will tell you that a serious incident, possibly leading to significant loss of life is only a matter of _when_. Not _IF_.

    Make you home a haven, a place where you can stay and avoid unnecessary contact with crowds who could very likely include an infected reservoir spreading illness. Understand protocols for the safety of your loved ones. Perhaps, if you can stay healthy in an emergency, you can be a resource to help friends and neighbors. The money spent is negligible compared to the cost of some possibilities.

  • Does anyone find it unnerving, these sick people who were allowed to fly & arrived only days before 9/11..it is not hard for me to envision radical terrorist using human suicide carriers as bio weapons to release a plague into the US, with the WHO releases warning of Disease X, so is that a mere coincidence? Deagel report a drastic decrease in population in several countries by 2025.. Bill gates warning of deadly pandemic coming, so just what does he know that we do not? With recent re-occurrence of Ebola in Congo..it is not if but when a weaponized disease is unleashed.

  • I’m a bit confused about something. Just in the last hundred years or so, particularly the last couple of decades, we’ve had a zoo full of invasive species and new diseases show up. Kudzu, Argentine and South American fire ants, Africanized bees, antibiotic resistant TB, bird flu, swine flu, Chagas disease (carried by a tropical insect), West Nile, Morgellon’s, etc., etc.. The thing is, there has been a steady stream of people and goods to and from the New World since the sixteenth century. The Templars, the Norse, and the Chinese were all here before that, abeit briefly. Roman coinage has been showing up all over the world, including North America, for centuries.

    There was evidence (bulldozed by the Army Corp of Engineers for some reason) of a Phoenician copper smelter in Alabama. There are copper mines dating back as much as five thousand years ago around the Great Lakes (several hundred of them), and it has been proven by chemical analysis that the copper was being shipped to Europe. The ‘native’ Americans had trade routes spanning from the tip of South America all the way to Canada for thousands of years.

    The point is, very few parts of this world were ever truly isolated. Air travel hasn’t really changed anything in that regard. With all of that obvious contact happening, over all those millennia, the only species that managed to adapt and follow human trade and migration routes were the European rat, domestic pigs, dogs and cats, and a very few Old World diseases. Until now. As with several others, the kissing bug that carries Chagas is a tropical species, and yet it is suddenly surviving as far North as Minnesota. What’s wrong with this picture?

  • I’m currently sitting at the Chicago O’Hare Airport waiting on my next flight. I just got off a flight from NY. A fly kept buzzing around before takeoff & l put it out of my mind until we landed & the fly started making its rounds again. I immediately thought of how easy it would be to transport a disease via insect on a plane. And then l sat down a few minutes ago & read your article. How easy speading a disease is & how interesting what the “official” response is … or their lack of one.
    Great article – thanks!

  • if this flu was the same as the Spanish flu, letting the rest of the plane load of passengers go to their next flight, would have been a fiasco of fiascoes. These airlines do not know how to practice tough love for the human race. As Gates says, “smallpox one, spoiled humans zero.”

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