Airline workers may spread H1N1, expert says

Airline employees who report to work ill are more likely than sick passengers to spread infections such as the H1N1 swine flu virus aboard airplanes, with low-paid workers posing the greatest danger, according to a US government expert.

Michael Bell, an expert on infectious disease with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said flight attendants and other employees who move through aircraft can leave germs on any number of surfaces, while sick passengers could be more likely to remain stationary.

But the greatest threat could come from low-paid airline contractors, such as cleaners, if slim wages and poor benefits make it difficult for them to take a sick day.

"That individual may be just as effective at spreading infection as anybody else," Dr Bell told a meeting sponsored by the independent National Research Council on the role that airports and aircraft play in transmitting disease.

Public health officials ask sick people not to travel and risk spreading infection to others and advise ill workers to stay home as well.