If you’re a frequent traveler, you’ve probably noticed that some airports already offer COVID testing—but effective immediately, health screenings are expanding. CNN reports those testing centers, which are operated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will now also screen for more than 30 different types of pathogens, including the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other respiratory viruses.

The CDC’s Travelers’ Health Branch oversees the Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance program, which was first initiated in 2021. Since then, the program has evolved to track new subvariants of COVID, as well as other pathogens. These are detected through wastewater samples and voluntary nasal swabs.
As we encroach on one of the busiest travel times of the year, Travelers’ Health Branch chief Cindy Friedman, MD, tells CNN that instituting a genomic surveillance program at airports can help detect “new and emerging infections.”

CNN reports that the CDC’s traveler genomic surveillance program will “test for more than 30 bacteria, antimicrobial resistance targets and viruses including influenza A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV.”