This was ~ 3 days before the outrage. Bold is mine
http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/is-it-safe-to-fly-during-the-swine-flu-outbreak/?scp=7&sq=airplane%20virus&st=cseApril 27, 2009, 11:58 am
Is It Safe to Fly During the Swine Flu Outbreak?
By Mark Gendreau, M.D.
NYT: Travel health expert Dr. Mark Gendreau addresses questions about the current swine flu outbreak and air travel. Dr. Gendreau is senior staff physician and vice chair of emergency medicine at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass., and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Tufts School of Medicine in Boston. His special interests include health issues associated with commercial air travel, including transmission of infectious diseases.
The novel infectious agent implicated in the current swine flu outbreak — comprised of genetic material from pigs, birds and humans — has shown the world once again the role air travel plays in rapidly spreading infectious outbreaks. The reported swine flu cases outside of Mexico likely came from infected tourists traveling home from Mexico on commercial aircraft or their close contacts. As Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg once wrote: “The microbe that felled one child in a distant continent yesterday can reach yours today and seed a global pandemic tomorrow.”Question
Are there ways to protect oneself against the spread of swine flu when flying?
Answer
Because the passenger cabin airflow is compartmentalized into several sections, risk of on-board transmission of infection is mainly restricted to individuals with either close personal contact with an infected and contagious passenger or seated within two rows of a contagious passenger.
Unfortunately, we don’t always have the opportunity to select who we are going to be seated next to, so exposure is pure chance.Here are some measures you can take to help protect yourself during air travel during this outbreak:
# Postpone travel if you are sick. Although it is recommended you postpone travel until you are no longer infectious, in reality this recommendation is not commonly followed by passengers, especially since few travelers purchase travel insurance.
In fact, it’s a good idea for all passengers to postpone any nonessential air travel during times of a national or international health emergency, such as the current swine flu outbreak, especially to countries where the outbreak is large.# Minimize exposure while aboard aircraft by keeping the air vent over your seat on low and pointing it so that the airflow is just in front of your face. This may prevent any infectious droplets from landing on your mucous membranes. Most infectious agents gain a foothold in our body through entering the mucous membranes of our eyes, nose and mouth.
# Make good hand hygiene part of your travel routine. Good hand hygiene is paramount in reducing the risk of disease transmission. Studies show markedly reduced rates of influenza transmission in public spaces that have alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers. The product should have an alcohol content of at least 50 percent to be effective against viruses.
# Consider a face mask. Face masks may help but only need to be used when outbreaks become widespread and are declared a pandemic. The most commonly used simple face masks only filter about 62 percent of very small particles, compared to about 98 percent for professional-grade face masks (these are typically designated N-95). Simple face masks are designed to prevent large droplets that are coughed or sneezed from contaminating the environment rather than protecting the wearer. Bring an extra mask along, and kindly offer it to anyone coughing or sneezing who looks sick. This will keep any droplets from landing on you.
Question
Will imposing travel restrictions or airport closures work at this point?
Answer
We really don’t know whether reducing the number of flights by imposing travel restrictions or airport closures to control or stop the outbreak would work.
One observational study showed that the peak date of the influenza season in the United States was delayed 13 days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, consistent with a greatly reduced number of flights during that time. This finding suggests that such restrictions would buy health authorities time to plan and mobilize resources.However, several mathematical computer models simulating an influenza pandemic conclude that flight restrictions would be impractical. To be effective, such restrictions would require a halt of all air travel, and the flight ban would need to take effect at the start of the outbreak. Even then, it would delay the spread of the outbreak only by several weeks.
The only way to eliminate virtually any risk of cross-infection within the aircraft cabin and prevent the aircraft from serving as a vehicle for worldwide epidemic spread is to stop passengers who have been either substantially exposed to a communicable disease or are contagious from flying. Such a measure, though, is neither practical nor possible.
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