November brings the beginning of the holiday travel frenzy. Planes, trains and automobiles are overbooked to carry loved ones to visit family and friends bearing gifts and traditional holiday foods. They also bring viruses with them. The CDC’s has a branch called the Travelers’ Health Branch of the Division of Global Migration Health. They make it their business to monitor and prevent infectious diseases from spreading via travel.

They provide international travel health advice such as vaccine recommendation and requirements. They play a role in global emergency response efforts by investigating health threats of mass gatherings abroad. They also are part of a team to advance infectious disease science and decrease threats to travelers. They are partnered with the World Health Organization, U.S. federal agencies, a national network of travel clinics and a global disease surveillance network.

Their online portal is the most visited CDC website: www.cdc.gov/travel. It provides travel notices, recommendations, travel tools and clinical guidance. They are constantly seeking best ways to communicate to the public. Every two years they publish the “Yellow Book and Provider Education.” It is a reference for health providers caring for patients who travel internationally.