A new program at the University of Arizona is working to stop disease outbreaks coming into the United States by focusing on air travel.
Controlling Zika is the main focus for the UA College of Public Health researchers. According to the CDC 94% of Zika cases in the United States came from travelers coming from outside the country. A majority of those travelers came through u-s airports.
The program will come up with a playbook for airports, airlines and travelers, and it will look at:
- How to best keep infections contained to a small location
- What airports and airlines need to do to protect passengers
- Legal issues around isolation and quarantine for infected passengers
- How airports can best trace the originally infected patient
This project was started to examine Zika, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola as well.
