What to know
- Presentation Day/Time: Wednesday, April 23, 1:00–2:25 pm
- Presenter: Samantha Swisher, DVM, MPH, EIS officer assigned to the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine
What did we do?
- We analyzed data from aircraft contact investigations (CIs) to better understand the likelihood that travelers were infected with tuberculosis (TB) during air travel.
What did we find?
- Although TB aircraft CIs identified persons with TB disease or LTBI, most contacts with TB (N=294) had other previous exposures including:
- 281 persons who had lived in countries with high TB burden, and
- 51 persons with known exposure to someone with TB unrelated to the flight.
- 281 persons who had lived in countries with high TB burden, and
- Nine persons (2.7%) exhibited conversion on serial testing within four months after the flight, providing evidence for recent infection.
Why does it matter?
- Aircraft CIs are resource-intensive and the available evidence does not support exposure on aircraft as an important source of TB transmission.
- Further evaluation is needed to determine whether screening strategies based on other risk factors, such as residence in a high-burden country or prolonged contact with someone with TB, would be a more effective use of limited TB program resources.
***This presentation has updated data that will be shared at the EIS Conference.
Abstract Category: Tuberculosis