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Plane from Mexico set to land here today

0 Comments | Charleston Gazette, The, Apr 29, 2009 | by Alison Knezevich

Yeager Airport officials are preparing for the scheduled arrival tonight of a chartered flight carrying 170 people who had traveled to the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta – a few days after health officials warned of a possible swine flu pandemic originating in Mexico.

A Miami Air charter plane is scheduled to arrive in Charleston at 9 p.m., Airport Director Rick Atkinson said. The flight departed from Charleston last Friday and was carrying 162 employees and customers of State Electric Supply of Huntington, plus eight crewmembers, he said.

Airport officials are scheduled to meet with the Kanawha- Charleston Health Department this morning to discuss precautions the airport must take, Yeager said.

“We will cooperate fully with [health department head] Dr. [Rahul] Gupta and his staff,” he said.

Mexican airports have been screening travelers for swine flu symptoms, Atkinson said. Before arriving in Charleston, the plane will stop in New Orleans, where the passengers will go through customs.

At that point, the passengers should receive pamphlets on swine flu symptoms and information on what they should do if they think they’re sick, Gupta said.

The screening process is meant to help prevent infected people from boarding a plane, he said.

“If all the screening processes are held in place and done like they’re supposed to, we should be in pretty good shape,” Gupta said.

Symptoms of swine flu are similar to seasonal flu and include fever, cough, headaches, body aches and sore throat.

At the meeting with airport officials, Gupta plans to discuss what airport employees should look out for. “That way the airport staff will be well-equipped and educated,” he said.

A woman at State Electric’s corporate office in Huntington on Tuesday denied that the company had a group traveling in Mexico.

On Monday, the U.S
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