New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and his wife have been placed in quarantine after a passenger on their flight to China began to show flu-like symptoms -- and is now having his calls screened by officials, according to reports.
The mayor, his wife, Seletha, and a security guard are being held by officials at a suburban Shanghai hotel after a person on their flight Friday came down with symptoms consistent with swine flu, the New Orleans Times Picayune reported.
The passenger, a French student with a now-confirmed case of swine flu, was seated just a few rows from the mayor and his traveling party, Fox News reported.
Officials at the Jinjiang Inn where Nagin is staying have refused to pass on messages without the permission of the Disease Control and Prevention office, Fox News reported.
"We have to keep him safe," a woman who said she was a translator at the hotel told Fox.
Nagin, who is said to be symptom-free, is being treated with the "utmost courtesy by Chinese officials" as he and his traveling party remain on lock-down as a precautionary measure, a spokeswoman for the mayor said Sunday. It was unclear how long the mayor would be quarantined.
The mayor is scheduled to travel to Sydney, Australia, to deliver a keynote speech on climate change during the 2009 National Summit of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
