CDC airport COVID screening to include flu, RSV detection

The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) is increasing its Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program to offer early detection of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and different respiratory viruses along with COVID-19.

In response to a Nov. 8 Passenger Terminal As we speak report, the CDC will pilot over the following a number of months with companions Ginkgo Bioworks and XWELL to observe over 30 viruses, micro organism, and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Beneath the pilot, samples that take a look at constructive will bear genetic sequencing, with outcomes uploaded to public well being databases to tell policymakers.

The expanded surveillance was initially launched at 4 main worldwide airports: New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington D.C.

“The enlargement of the Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance program to flu, RSV, and different pathogens is crucial as we head into fall respiratory season,” stated Dr. Cindy Friedman, chief of CDC’s Vacationers’ Well being Department. “The TGS program, which started in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, acted as an early warning system to detect new and uncommon variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and can do the identical for different respiratory viruses going ahead.”

Sampling might embody voluntary nasal swabs

Launched in 2021, TGS makes use of three approaches at seven U.S. airports: voluntary nasal swabs of arriving worldwide vacationers, wastewater sampling, and assortment of air samples from plane cabins. TGS offered early detection of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 variant inside days of its world identification, informing public well being officers it had unfold to Asia after originating from a traveler from Japan.

As of September 2023, over 360,000 air vacationers have voluntarily and anonymously participated in TGS, overlaying flights from over 135 international locations throughout all World Well being Group areas.

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