A review in the medical Lancet found the commonest
diseases linked to air travel have been spread via
contaminated food rather than from the cabin’s recycled
air. The US researchers found a total of 41 in-flight
outbreaks of food poisoning resulting in 11 deaths had been
documented between 1947 and 1999. Salmonella was the most
commonly reported infection spread by a commercial airline,
with 15 recorded outbreaks between 1947 and 1999, affecting
nearly 4,000 passengers and killing seven. The US authors
stressed that no food- or water-borne outbreaks had been
reported in the past five years probably because of greater
use of pre-packaged frozen meals, and improved food
handling and inspection.