US agencies work together to prevent disease spreading through air travel

In an attempt to prevent the spread of infectious diseases or other deadly agents aboard commercial aircraft, U.S. government health agencies, airlines and aviation regulators plan to work together, federal officials said this week.

John Mica, a Florida Republican and chairman of the House aviation subcommittee says the prospect of economic losses caused either by viruses or terrorists with viruses, requires a proactive posture rather than a reactive posture and is an absolute necessity.

Mica told a hearing attended by government health and aviation experts that with over 1.6 billion passengers travelling worldwide each year on commercial air carriers, there is a real threat that these sometimes deadly diseases can be transmitted around the world in a matter of hours.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus in 2002 and 2003 which killed more than 700 people in 12 countries frightened off many international travellers and limited airline service to Asia where it first occurred.

The current outbreak of avian influenza or "bird flu" that has killed 50 people, also in Asia, since 2003, is of particular concern, and many experts fear the virus could mutate into a more contagious form and unleash a global pandemic.

Airlines have previously come under scrutiny for air quality in passenger cabins after complaints from flight attendants that recirculated air can become stale and unhealthy. But health experts say aircraft generally do a good job of filtering germs and the main concern is that sick travellers will spread disease, especially airborne agents, through direct contact with other travellers or after they reach their destination.

A case in 2004 when a traveller died from an acute viral illness contracted in Africa soon after arriving in New Jersey was mentioned by Anne Schuchat, acting director for the U.S. Centre for Infectious Diseases. The ensuing investigation identified a number of air and train passengers who may have been at risk from the virus but fortunately no one else became sick.

Schuchat credited cooperation among federal and state agencies and hospital and medical labs for the successful investigation of this incident and said government health agencies are working harder to try to detect problems overseas before someone boards a flight to the United States.

Schuchat says disease surveillance, early detection, and rapid response is the best strategy for preventing disease introduction into the United States.

U.S. airlines are working closely with the Centres for Disease Control to expedite information electronically about passengers and crew who may have been exposed to a contagious disease or who are sick, and to address the threat of a potential biological attack on the aviation system. The Homeland Security Department is concentrating on airports and is in the early phase of studying biological detection systems to protect airliners.

Authorities are also focusing on airport terminal airflow patterns and evacuation strategies, among other strategies to mitigate exposure and spread of a biological agent. Tthe government is testing early warning technology that can detect aerosol and other deadly agents.