Laboratory tests on respiratory samples from the patients have yet to confirm the illness, but their histories and symptoms — fever, cough and vomiting — indicate influenza, said Dr. Oxiris Barbot, New York City's acting health commissioner.
Some passengers in recent days had attended the annual hjj pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula, a region where the flu virus was circulating, and could have contracted the illness there, Barbot said. It was also possible the virus was transmitted between passengers during the lengthy flight, she said.
All who were hospitalized were in stable condition and none was in need of "extreme" medical attention, Barbot said.