CDC monitors travelers from Siberia after plague worker’s death, director says
The threat to the United States is extremely low after the death of a plague institute worker in Siberia
On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Erica Schwartz said that the risk to the US from an unconfirmed pneumonic plague case in Siberia was extremely low but the agency was positioned to conduct passenger screening and monitoring.
Schwartz said at the Wall Street Journal’s The Future of Health event in Washington, “We are working with Department of Homeland Security, working (with) Department of State, Department of War, and other agencies within the government to make sure that we know exactly if anyone from that area comes into the United States.”
The CDC has a quarantine station specifically at the John F. Kennedy Airport that can execute mandatory health vetting and border surveillance for all travelers arriving from the designated region entering the United States.
According to Reuters, the US Department of Health and Human Services did not outline a clear mechanism on whether the agency planned to set up screening at JFK Airport.
Furthermore, Russia’s health regulator clarified that there was no outbreak risk in Siberia after a plague institute worker there died from pneumonia of a cryptogenic origin in a case drawing international scrutiny.
