Arlington, Va. – A Pentagon entrance was closed Friday morning and access to the building’s South Parking Lot was restricted after a woman became ill on a tour bus.
The woman vomited and told paramedics she had recently traveled to West Africa, according to WJLA.
The woman was taken to a quarantine tent set up in front of Fairfax Inova Hospital.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Crosson said that out of an “abundance of caution,” all pedestrian and vehicle traffic was stopped across 17 lanes of the huge South Parking lot. The Corridor 2 entrance was also closed until further notice.
A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the woman, who has not been named, works for Total Spectrum, whose website says it is a lobbying and public relations firm. Managing Director Steve Gordon told the Associated Press that the Pentagon had contacted him, and he said the woman has not been out of the Washington area.
The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, says the woman was on a Metro bus, and transferred to a shuttle bus taking guests to a change of responsibility ceremony for Gen. Joe Dunford, who is taking over as commandant of the Marine Corps. She got off the shuttle before it left the Pentagon parking lot and then vomited. The official said it did not immediately appear that she was invited to the ceremony.
