Abstract
Recognizing that crowded, high-traffic airports and airplanes have been implicated in respiratory disease transmission, we partnered with administrators of Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) in conducting a pilot study of aerosol surveillance for respiratory viruses at RDU. From January to March 2018 we used NIOSH 2-stage samplers to collect 150 min aerosol samples in crowded areas at RDU. Four (17%) of the 24 samples were positive for known respiratory pathogens including influenza D virus and adenovirus. These results suggest the feasibility of employing bioaerosol surveillance techniques in public transportation areas, such as airports, as a noninvasive way to detect and characterize novel respiratory viruses.
Highlights
As the number of individuals who travel by air increases, issues regarding air quality and the potential risk of respiratory infection during travel and flight have become increasingly important
We studied bioaerosol samples collected in Raleigh Durham International Airport for molecular evidence of respiratory viruses
Samples were most frequently positive in the 4 μm or 1–4 μm particle size ranges with one adenovirus and the influenza D sample detected at 4 μm and two adenovirus positives detected at 1–4 μm
Summary
As the number of individuals who travel by air increases, issues regarding air quality and the potential risk of respiratory infection during travel and flight have become increasingly important. The outbreak of SARS coronavirus for example can be tracked from the Hotel Metropole in Hong Kong to areas where infected guests traveled by air after staying at the hotel [1]. This risk of the spread of pathogens by air travel has influenced the development of airport passenger screening technologies at airports. Many airports use thermal scanning to screen incoming passengers for febrile illness These techniques are not entirely effective in preventing the spread of viral infectious disease because passengers, either with a fever or presenting symptoms with respiratory virus infections such as influenza virus, often shed viruses before they
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