Pack disease precautions when traveling

From CNN Medical Correspondent Rhonda Rowland

(CNN) -- Reports of a visitor to Canada possibly being infected with a viral hemorrhagic fever have many wondering just how risky global travel can be. Experts say it's best to pack some sensible precautions along with your extra underwear.

The key word is sensible. Common infections are much more likely to cause trouble.

"Influenza as it's occurred in the last two summers in Alaska and the Yukon affected more travelers than any other travel-related illness in American history," said Dr. Phyllis Kazarsky, a founding member of the International Society of Travel Medicine.

Kazarsky and her colleagues at the Emory University-affiliated TravelWell Clinic are participating in a 25-clinic survey of the prevalence of illness related to global travel. The researchers are looking for evidence of diseases in places they normally don't appear, as well as for new, emerging illnesses.

Prior to a trip to Kenya, Africa, for missionary work, Craig Oliver was advised to get immunization shots for typhoid, yellow fever and polio. He also was cautioned against contact with any animals - even dogs and cats.

But Kazarsky said that physicians also have a responsibility to ask the right questions of their sick patients.

"Unfortunately, when you're at home in the United States and seek medical attention, either through a primary care physician or emergency room," the doctor many not always ask about recent travel, she said. And a patient may not think to mention it.

If a traveler brings home some exotic illness, such as Ebola, how real is the threat?

"It's possible for there to be a few secondary cases if a case of Ebola does get to the United States," said Dr. James Steinberg, an infectious disease specialist at Emory's Crawford Long Hospital. "But it is very unlikely to have an outbreak."

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TravelWell Clinic
Emory University
Crawford Long Hospital
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Ebola Facts

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