El Al flight attendant hospitalized in serious condition with measles

Woman, who was said to have been vaccinated, is attached to a respirator; Health Ministry warns other travelers on New York-Tel Aviv flight

A flight attendant on Israel’s national carrier El Al was hospitalized in serious condition after she contracted the measles virus on a flight from New York to Tel Aviv last week.

The employee, who is in her 40s, is unconscious and attached to a respirator.

According to Channel 12, the woman had been vaccinated.

The Health Ministry warned people who were on board El AL flight 002 — which left John F. Kennedy Airport on March 26 and landed in Israel a day later — to immediately seek medical care if they develop symptoms of the highly infectious disease.

Israel has seen an outbreak of measles in the past year, recording 3,600 cases since March 2018, according to the ministry.

Infections have mostly centered on the country’s ultra-Orthodox community, where inoculation rates have generally been low.

In November, an 18-month-old toddler in Jerusalem died of the disease, the first recorded death from measles in Israel in the past 15 years. A month later, an 82-year-old woman became the second fatality.