Monkeypox fears: San Francisco couple says they were nearly booted from Spirit Airlines flight over eczema
The monkeypox virus has spread across the country
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A San Francisco woman claims she was almost kicked off her Spirit Airlines flight due to suspicion of being infected with the monkeypox virus.
Jacqueline Nguyen, who has more than 28,000 followers, posted a TikTok video Aug. 4 saying the airline had her and her wife temporarily exit a Los Angeles plane to ask about a skin condition that turned out to be eczema, KRON4 reports.
Nguyen wrote that the staff asked her to provide medical documents and that, in a follow-up video, they were able to board again after she presented a tube of prescribed eczema cream and her wife "called out" a complaint resolution official over being "discriminatory."
As the couple reboarded the plane, a flight attendant walking her way "promptly turned around and walked the other way" without making eye contact.
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A Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N takes off from Los Angeles international Airport July 30, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images / Getty Images)
"You could have a bad acne breakout, you could get a heat rash and end up in the position I was in," she told KRON4 Friday. "It’s not hard to show people compassion, it’s not hard to give people the benefit of the doubt and I think that we could all use that right now."
The initial video of the incident has gotten more than 1.9 million views.
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In another video posted Friday, Nguyen said her wife was a Spirit Airlines flight attendant and was fired by the airline the next day.
FOX Business' request for comment from Spirit Airlines was not immediately returned.
A Spirit Airlines plane takes off from Oakland International Airport July 28, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
JetBlue Airways recently agreed to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion.
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Earlier this month, the federal government declared a public health emergency over the nearly nationwide monkeypox outbreak.
There are more than 11,000 confirmed monkeypox and orthopoxvirus cases in 49 U.S. states, the nation's capital and Puerto Rico.
People wait in line to get a monkeypox virus vaccine at St. John's Well Child & Family Center Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Wyoming has yet to report a case of the virus.
California has the second-most cases in the country; New York is the outbreak's epicenter.
Although most cases have been seen primarily in men who have sex with men, experts caution that anyone is at potential risk.
Susana Alvarenga, a medical assistant, left, administers a monkeypox virus vaccine to Francisco Mendoza at St. John's Well Child & Family Center Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images / Getty Images)
People normally become infected with the monkeypox virus through contact with the skin lesions or bodily fluids of infected animals or humans or through contact with materials contaminated with the virus.
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Monkeypox, which is related to smallpox, has milder symptoms.
Some symptoms of monkeypox include fever, chills, rash and aches, before lesions develop.