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JFK Most Likely Airport to Spread Disease in Outbreak, Study Says

By Nigel Chiwaya | July 27, 2012 11:12am
Travelers wait to be speak to a desk agent in Terminal One of John F. Kennedy Airport.
Travelers wait to be speak to a desk agent in Terminal One of John F. Kennedy Airport.
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Andrew Burton/Getty Images

QUEENS — Cover your mouth the next time you pick anyone up from Kennedy Airport.

A new study named JFK as the airport most likely to spread disease, the Daily News reported — but that has nothing to do with the facility's overall cleanliness.

The study, conducted by MIT and published in the journal of PLos ONE, studied 40 airports around the country and ranked them according to their ability to spread a disease during the first 15 days of an outbreak.

JFK, labeled a "super-spreader," came in first place because of its high volume of passengers and large number of connecting flights, which usually head to other large international airports.

"It's like a social network," MIT professor Ruben Juanes, the lead researcher in study, told the Daily News.

"You're a good spreader if your neighbors are good spreaders."

Los Angeles International (LAX) came in second place. Newark Liberty was ranked sixth.