Traveler's Health Initiative

Background:

The CDC’s Traveler’s Health initiative was established to protect the health of those traveling in a mobile world during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over time, the initiative expanded to address other emerging and infectious diseases. such as mpox and Ebola, to lessen the risk during travel.

Program background:

The program aims to increase education and messaging regarding the health of travelers. Strategies included outreach to incoming travelers via email and phone to notify of policies, updates, and how to locate resources. Visual and audio content for social media platforms is created to notify travelers of precautions to take, particularly during busy seasons. Content includes entry/exit testing requirements, isolation and quarantine guidance, and travel advisories. NJDOH shares created content with partners, such as institutes of higher education and the Port Authority of NY/NJ.

Since communicable diseases can be introduced through travel, it is imperative that a monitoring system be in place to track potential cases. NJDOH worked to improve how our travel-related data is captured within the Communicable Disease Reporting and Surveillance System (CDRSS).

Evaluation Methods and Results:

• From July 2021-October 2022, about 900,000 emails were sent to incoming travelers. Outreach was also conducted during the 2022 Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
• Established the NJDOH Traveler's Health website which has over 14,000 views as of January 2023.
• Digital safe travel posters are on display at Newark Airport and PATH train and rail stations across the state.
• Created three animated YouTube videos using PowToon to highlight the importance of traveler's health.
• Seasonal and routine infographics are produced to share safe travel tips. These are shared on the website, social media, and with partners for dissemination.
• Designed a travel module in our disease monitoring system, CDRSS, to be able to assess the origin of the spread of diseases and when travel is involved.

Conclusions:

• Traveler's health education including tips for prevention, testing, and vaccination is important because it informs the public on how to mitigate the risk of infection while traveling.

Implications for research and/or practice:

• Updates to CDRSS will allow for more efficient travel-related data collection on potential infectious disease cases and their contacts.
• Building rapport with partners ensures ease of disseminating information when travel-related issues arise.
• QR code with website and social media included.