Has anyone else found all those planes full of sick people rather alarming? If you aren't familiar with this, let me enlighten you with a look at all the quarantined flights (and one that probably should have been) in the past week.

It all seems like the start of a science fiction movie with a strain of something accidentally or deliberately released. We just have to wonder what it is that's going to kill us all.

The Plane from Dubai to JFK

The first one that came to my attention was a flight into the United States from the Dubai. (FYI: Vanilla Ice was on that flight and that stupid song has been stuck in my head ever since.) On that plane headed toward JFK International Airport in New York City, approximately 100 passengers and members of the crew became ill. The CDC met the flight at the airport and determined that out of the plane full of 521 people, about a hundred of them self-reported fevers of over 100 degrees and coughing.

19 of those people were found to be ill, 10 or 11 (reports vary) of them enough to be hospitalized by the CDC and the other 500+ people on that plane were sent on their ways…all over the nation, as JFK is a hub for international flights.

Emirates' home office told U.S. officials it believes this incident was caused by food poisoning, but passengers also suggested a nasty flu virus could also be to blame.

"Even well before the flight when we were online getting on board (in Dubai), there were people that were obviously very sick that should not have been allowed to get on board in the first place," said passenger Erin Sykes.

Some point to a particularly aggressive strain of the virus ravaging Mecca, where some of the passengers had recently spent time. (source)

But don't worry. CNN reported that it's "just the flu or common cold." No biggie. That was on September 5th.