What are CDCs quarantine officials doing to prevent and control the spread of SARS?
During the ongoing investigation into SARS, CDC’s quarantine inspectors play an important role. Inspectors or their designees provide information to returning air travelers arriving-directly or indirectly-from Hong Kong, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China, and Hanoi, Vietnam. This same information is being provided via the major shipping associations and the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) to persons traveling on cargo ships and cruise ships. Inspectors are handing out health alert notices to arriving air travelers alerting them of their possible exposure to SARS. The notices ask travelers to monitor their health for 7 days and see a doctor if they get a fever with a cough or have difficulty breathing. Inspectors are also boarding airplanes to check travelers for any symptoms matching the case definition of SARS.
CDC’s quarantine inspectors or their designees are distributing health alert cards to air passengers returning in airplanes either directly or indirectly to the United States from China, Singapore, and Vietnam. The notices inform travelers about SARS and its symptoms and asks them to monitor their health for 10 days and to see a doctor if they get a fever with a cough or have difficulty breathing. CDC distributes approximately 18,000 health alert notices each day to air travelers returning from the affected regions at 23 ports of entry. Inspectors also are boarding airplanes if a traveler has been reported with symptoms matching the case definition of SARS.
