Cuba

  • Sick vacationers from Cuba continue to land in Canada

    Posted: January 22nd, 2012 - 11:08pm by Doug Powell

    This is sounding a lot less like norovirus.

    Elizabeth Church of Toronto’s Globe and Mail reports that for the fifth time in less than a week, a Canadian airline is reporting several ill passengers on a flight returning from the vacation destination of Holguin in Cuba.

    Although many travellers on each flight reported staying at the same resorts, at least four resorts have been identified amongst the travellers onboard the first four affected flights, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

    But those resorts could have the same food suppliers; and at least one commenter to barfblog.com said he or she was tested upon arriving in Canada and tested positive for salmonella.

    Michelle Larabie said she got sick on a plane returning to Toronto from Holguin on Jan. 13, a week earlier than the other flights. She said she began feeling nauseous while in the air, and her sickness and diarrhea lasted nearly a week.

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    Salmonella  |  0 Comments
    Canada, cuba, Holguin, resort, Vomit
  • Visitors to Cuba returning to Canada with gastrointestinal illnesses

    Posted: January 21st, 2012 - 4:35am by Doug Powell

    The Ottawa Citizen reports three flights from Cuba to Canada had at least 39 passengers returning with a variety of gastrointestinal illnesses.

    The Public Health Agency of Canada said Friday two flights that arrived in Ottawa from Cuba on Tuesday and Friday had 19 passengers suffering from symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and fever, while a Thursday flight from Cuba to Toronto had 20 passengers suffering from the same symptoms.

    “In all cases, quarantine officers assessed the situation, determined that the passengers did not have a disease listed in the Quarantine Act and thus did not pose a significant public health risk and passengers were released,” said Sylwia Gomes in an email reply to the Citizen.

    The sick passengers on the three flights came from at least four different resorts, she said.

    Early Friday morning, an Air Transat flight from Cuba carrying 260 passengers was detained at the Ottawa International Airport after 12 people complained of a stomach illness. The ill passengers were all from the same resort, so the concern forced Ottawa’s fire HAZMAT team to respond to the early morning incident.

    Passengers were assessed and then cleared after nearly 20 minutes of examination, said a spokesman for the Ottawa ambulance service.

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    Other Microorganisms  |  2 Comments
    Airplane, Canada, cuba, resort, Vomit