The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that its Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program has now surpassed one million voluntary participants. The milestone highlights the role of the TGS program in detecting and responding to public health threats at U.S. borders.
The TGS program collects anonymous samples from international travelers arriving at selected airports in the United States. This approach helps to identify emerging pathogens and variants before they can spread widely within the country.
“The United States is the world’s leading authority in public health,” said HHS Deputy Secretary and Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill. “The broad participation of travelers enhances our ability to safeguard the nation using tools that are developed, operated, and governed here at home without reliance on unaccountable global bureaucracies.”
Public-private partnerships support the TGS program, including collaboration with Ginkgo Biosecurity and XWell, as well as cooperation from certain U.S. airports. These relationships help CDC collect biosurveillance data quickly when other testing or sequencing data may be limited.
Since its launch in 2021, TGS has monitored communicable diseases among incoming international travelers with an emphasis on early detection of new variants of respiratory viruses and other significant pathogens. The program previously identified influenza H3N2 subclade K sequences seven days ahead of any other publicly reported sequence, demonstrating its capacity for early detection.
Participation in TGS is both voluntary and anonymous. In addition to nasal swab samples from travelers, CDC has examined over 2,600 airplane wastewater samples as part of its surveillance efforts.
A statement referencing President Trump emphasized ongoing efforts to maintain U.S. leadership in public health through strengthened domestic capabilities and innovation in rapid response measures against infectious disease threats.
Further information about current TGS data is available on the CDC website.
