Dozens of travellers were ill when they returned from Cuban holidays on flights to Toronto and Ottawa this week, sending two to hospital.

Health officials say sick passengers had vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and fever. The passengers were not quarantined, but were assessed by Public Health Agency of Canada inspectors, who concluded the illness “did not pose a significant public health risk,” said agency spokesperson Sylwia Gomes.

On Tuesday, seven passengers on a Sunwing flight from Cuba to Ottawa fell ill with the described symptoms.

On Thursday, another 11 passengers on an Air Transat flight from Cuba to Toronto's Pearson International Airport were also sick.

On Friday, two more Air Transat flights — one to Ottawa and one to Toronto — carried a total of 26 ill travellers. Two of the Ottawa-destined travellers were sent to hospital.

Air Transat spokeswoman Debbie Cabana said all of the flights were arriving from Holguin, Cuba, but the sick passengers had been staying in several different resorts.

She said the airline had information the travellers had become ill with a gastrointestinal virus, and that “some were also sick at the destination, not just on the plane,” Cabana said.

The kind of illness is not uncommon, health officials said, and passengers were released after meeting with the public health inspectors.

With files from the Canadian Press

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