Philly Airport Workers Worried About Ebola

Apparently, big passenger jets can get pretty gross after a flight or two. Gross enough, in fact, that Philly’s airport workers are worried about accidentally getting Ebola as a result.

CBS Philly reports on their complaints:

The workers clean the planes and sometimes come in contact with human waste.

“We clean the bathrooms. We removed the trash, wipe down tray tables digging into seat cushions, underneath the seats and in the seat pockets,” airport worker Anthony Reynolds said.

Airport workers want equipment that health care workers would use.

“We might not know if a passenger was infected. When we clean the airplane cabin, we have no mask, we have no goggles, we have no facial shields, we have no shoe covers and we have no water proof gowns,” Reynolds said.

A spokesman for American Airlines said that outfit is following the recommendations of Centers for Disease Control.

Speaking of which: The CDC is enlisting Pennsylvania’s health department in the fight against the disease. TribLive reports:

Starting Monday, all travelers to the United States whose flights originated in Sierra Leone, Liberia or Guinea will be actively followed for up to 21 days by state health departments in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia, said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those six states are the final destinations of 70 percent of people who arrive in the United States from Ebola-affected nations, he said.

“We will continue to do whatever we can to reduce risk to Americans,” Frieden said.

Pennsylvania health officials said they are working to implement the CDC’s recommendations, which include a 24-hour hotline and daily communication between travelers and the state.

High-risk individuals who have had prolonged contact with Ebola patients may be quarantined, officials said.