US customs and health officials have begun taking the temperatures of passengers arriving at New York’s Kennedy International Airport from three West African countries in a stepped-up screening effort meant to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.

The man quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis is likely to spend up to two months in a US hospital while he receives a battery of antibiotics and is evaluated for possible surgery, his doctors said.

AN attorney quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis apologised to his fellow plane passengers in an interview yesterday, and insisted he was told he wasn’t contagious or a threat to anyone.