A doctor returning from fighting a cholera outbreak in Haiti experienced symptoms of the disease while en route to Miami International Airport and was met by a medical team when his flight touched down Thursday night.
American Airlines Flight #778 arrived from Santo Domingo, the capital of neighboring Dominican Republic, around 6 p.m.
"Before landing, the crew radioed down and advised they had a passenger onboard who had symptom that appeared to be cholera and he would need immediate medical attention the minute they landed,'' said an American Airlines spokesman.
The man was whisked to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where doctors have not been able to confirm cholera pending test results.
Cholera is a severe diarrheal illness transmitted through fecal contamination that is especially dangerous among children and the elderly. Those infected can become too quickly dehydrated, go into shock, and die within hours.
If suspicions are confirmed, it will be the first known case of cholera in Miami-Dade County ever and
just the third in Florida -- the disease was erradicated in most first-world countries decades ago.
Though passengers leaving Haiti and the Dominican Republic are being screened at departure for symptoms of the disease, the patient in question showed no signs of illness before the flight took off and thus was allowed to board.
