Health and safety officials are investigating an illness that struck people on an Emirates Airline flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday morning. Seven crew members and three passengers were taken to the hospital, Emirates Airline said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said around 100 people on the overnight Flight 203 had complained of illness with symptoms ranging from a cough to a fever. Ten people were taken off the plane for treatment at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, said Eric Phillips, press secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He said nine others were found to be sick but declined medical attention. The aircraft was carrying around 521 passengers. Phillips stated “the plane’s been quarantined and the CDC is on the scene.” Though it has not been determined what caused the illness, Phillips stated that possibly a “flu outbreak” in Mecca, Saudi Arabia might be to blame, saying “it appears some of the ill passengers came from Mecca before getting on in Dubai.”
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