Detroit-bound flight diverted over passenger from Congo amid Ebola restrictions

An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit, Michigan, was forced to divert to Montreal, Canada, on Wednesday due to U.S. flight restrictions linked to the Ebola outbreak after it was determined that one of the passengers was from the Democratic Republic of Congo, federal officials said.

Air France boarded the passenger “in error on a flight to the United States,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.

“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” the CBP spokesperson said. “CBP took decisive action and prohibited the flight carrying that traveler from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and instead, diverted to Montreal, Canada.”

CBP did not say when the person had last been in the Congo or whether they were showing symptoms of the virus. It wasn’t immediately clear if the passenger was a Congolese national or had been traveling there.

When reached about the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration directed CBS News to CBP. 

CBS News has also reached out to Air France and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for comment.

According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, Air France Flight 378 from Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport landed at Montreal Trudeau International Airport at 5:15 p.m. ET. The status of the passenger from the Congo was unknown. It was also unclear whether the flight, with the rest of the passengers, would continue on to Detroit.

On Monday, the CDC announced that people without U.S. passports who had traveled to Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past three weeks would be restricted from entering the country.

Earlier Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of CBP, confirmed that beginning Thursday, it would require all U.S.-bound flights carrying foreign travelers who have been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan at any point in the previous 21 days to fly into Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

The rule, according to its language, is designed to funnel those travelers to an airport “where the U.S. government is focusing public health resources to implement enhanced public health measures.”

It’s unclear how the DHS rule impacts the CDC’s earlier order.

An Ebola outbreak centered in eastern Congo was confirmed May 15 by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday there were at least 600 suspected Ebola cases so far, including 139 suspected deaths from the virus. 

Health officials say the new outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments, according to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Céline Gounder.