Air France flight from Paris to Detroit diverted to Montreal over Ebola rules

An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit was diverted to Montreal on Wednesday after U.S. officials determined that one passenger had been in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the passenger had been boarded in error. The spokesperson said the traveler should not have been allowed on the plane because of entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of Ebola.

CBP prohibited the flight from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and ordered it to divert to Montreal. The agency did not say when the passenger had last been in Congo or whether the person showed symptoms of the virus.

The Federal Aviation Administration referred questions about the incident to CBP. CBS News also contacted Air France and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for comment.

FlightAware data showed the plane landed at Montreal Trudeau International Airport at 5:15 p.m. ET. It was not clear whether the flight would continue to Detroit with the remaining passengers.

On Monday the CDC said people without U.S. passports who had traveled to Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past three weeks would be barred from entering the United States. On Wednesday the Department of Homeland Security announced that beginning Thursday, U.S.-bound flights carrying foreign travelers who had been in any of those three countries in the previous 21 days must land at Washington-Dulles International Airport.

An Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo was confirmed on May 15. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that at least 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths had been reported so far.