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Plane with sick child held at gate in Colorado

From Greg Morrison, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • A 23-month-old child is checked out by paramedics
  • The CDC asks passengers to fill out contact information
  • Authorities tell CNN affiliate preliminary reports indicate the infant may have hand, foot and mouth disease
RELATED TOPICS
  • Air Travel
  • Colorado
  • Mexico

(CNN) -- A flight from Mexico was held at a Colorado airport after a 23-month-old child onboard was reported sick, a Frontier Airlines spokeswoman said.

Frontier's Flight 64 from Puerto Vallarta landed at the Denver International Airport on Saturday afternoon.

"Paramedics boarded the flight and have assessed the child and taken the child to a local hospital," said Jeff Dimond of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials interviewed the child's family and allowed other passengers to deplane using stairs instead of the jetway, Dimond said.

The CDC asked passengers to fill out contact information, said airline spokeswoman Lindsey Purves.

Denver health officials told CNN television affiliate KUSA that preliminary reports indicate the infant may have hand, foot and mouth disease.

The disease is common among children and causes fever and blisters in the mouth, according to the CDC.

Kevin Schumacher, who was a passenger on the plane, told the affiliate he saw the child.

"The kid had blisters in their mouth and on their hands and feet," Schumacher said.

Passenger Dave Bridgeman said he heard flight attendants providing symptoms to a doctor over the radio.

"We knew it was potentially serious when we landed and they wouldn't even extend the jetway out to the plane," Bridgeman told the affiliate.