The recent spread of Ebola from West Africa and Zika from South America has drawn attention to the growing risk for importing infectious diseases to the United States as people continue to travel internationally. For example, disease importation was a contributing factor in the most recent measles outbreak.
In a new commentary, Tony Yang, associate professor of health administration and policy, and Julia Painter, assistant professor of global and community health, collaborated with Benjamin Mason Meier of the University of North Carolina, to discuss the need to coordinate regulatory efforts as a way to strengthen travel-related immunization requirements. The commentary is published in Vaccine.
The commentary explores issues regarding global, federal, and state regulations regarding travel-related immunizations. Most regulatory authority pertaining to travel-related vaccinations is held by the states and the federal government; there are no global regulations. However, the International Health Regulations require countries to notify the World Health Organization of potential disease threats.
The authors conclude that the difference in state regulations, combined with the federal regulations, leaves gaps that may contribute to disease importation. They suggest a more coordinated effort at the global, federal, and state levels to help reduce the potential for disease importation. Read the full commentary.