U.S. air marshal in quarantine after suspected Ebola syringe attack at Lagos...

U.S. air marshal in quarantine after suspected Ebola syringe attack at Lagos airport

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An American federal air marshal was placed in quarantine in Houston, Texas yesterday after being attacked Sunday night at the Lagos airport in Nigeria. The assailant wielded a syringe which contained an unknown substance, and was able to inject an unknown substance into the back of one of the air marshal’s arms.

ABC News reports that the air marshal, who was in Nigeria with a team of other marshals, was attacked when the group was in an unsecured area of the airport terminal in Lagos.

The marshal was able to board the United Airlines flight to Houston, where he was met by FBI agents and health workers from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

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Fearing the syringe contained liquid contaminated with the Ebola virus, the authorities in Houston immediately put him into quarantine. The FBI said he was screened “on-scene as a matter of precaution.”
An FBI spokesperson said, “The victim did not exhibit any signs of illness during the flight and was transported to a hospital upon landing for further testing. None of the testing conducted has indicated a danger to other passengers.”

The infectious agents would not immediately manifest or make the patient contagious.

ABC News also reports that while the unknown assailant escaped, Nigerian officials said the other air marshals on the team secured the needle and brought it on the flight for testing in the United States.