US CDC plans to improve international air contact tracing data collection

The US CDC will take steps to improve collection of international air passenger contact information to better monitor public health risks after a report found the current data system "needs substantial improvement." The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Monday said, "limitations in how CDC collects and manages air passengers’ contact information - including CDC's use of an outdated data management system - hinder the agency’s ability to monitor public health risks and facilitate contact tracing." Beginning in November 2021, the CDC required all airlines to collect contact tracing information from all international air passengers. The report said the CDC's current data management system developed in the mid-2000s "was not designed for rapid assessment or aggregation of public health data" and the CDC "is unable to quickly and accurately identify the number of passengers exposed to a specific infected passenger on a flight." A CDC spokeswoman said agency director Rochelle Walensky "continues to work with the administration and Congress to improve CDC’s data capabilities. Reporting data to CDC is vital to the agency’s ability to provide real-world, real-time data to policymakers who must make recommendations and guidance to protect the American public." CDC, an agency of the Health and Human Services Department (HHS), told GAO it estimated that between 2015 and 2019 - before the pandemic - about 80 to 130 distinct flights annually warranted at least one contact investigation "compared to more than an estimated 25,000 distinct flights in 2020" and 17,000 passengers.<br/>