JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

The huge COVID outbreak in China has prompted the U.S. to increase its efforts to identify harmful new variants rapidly. NPR well being correspondent Rob Stein visited one of many websites that is attempting to find new strains of the virus coming into the nation.

(SOUNDBITE OF LUGGAGE CONVEYOR BUZZING)

ROB STEIN, BYLINE: It is early morning at Dulles Worldwide Airport exterior Washington, D.C.

(SOUNDBITE OF LUGGAGE LANDING ON CAROUSEL)

COMPUTER-GENERATED VOICE: Your baggage receipts…

STEIN: Passengers rush to test or retrieve luggage, catch flights or taxis.

ANA VALDEZ: Whats up, all people. Welcome. Whats up. Welcome.

STEIN: Ana Valdez is already arduous at work at one of many worldwide gates, the place arriving vacationers are flooding by means of two large, swinging doorways.

VALDEZ: Do you want to assist the CDC to search out new variants for COVID?

STEIN: She works for a year-old program that the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention simply expanded to attempt to spot new variants as a result of China abruptly deserted its zero-COVID coverage. The surge of the virus there may be elevating fears that might spawn a brand new, much more harmful variant. Valdez and her colleagues are accumulating samples from vacationers coming in from China, but in addition different nations the place the virus is spreading quick.

VALDEZ: It’ll take 35 seconds of your time. It is free. It is volunteer. It is nameless – 35 seconds of your time. The place are you coming from?

UNIDENTIFIED TRAVELER #1: From India.

VALDEZ: Do you want to assist the CDC to search out new variants of COVID? Do you want to assist? It could take 35 seconds of your time, then we’ll depart you…

UNIDENTIFIED TRAVELER #1: No, it is – I am unable to…

VALDEZ: Have an excellent day.

STEIN: Many of the vacationers trudge previous lugging baggage with out even making eye contact.

VALDEZ: Lengthy-time flights, then they needed to cease at immigration and customs, and that takes one other hour or two. By the point they arrive right here, they’re already exhausted, offended. They simply need to go residence.

STEIN: I get it. I – that is the way in which I’d really feel, I believe.

VALDEZ: Sure. So it is extremely appreciated that some folks cease.

STEIN: Again and again, Valdez guarantees to make it fast and straightforward and presents a free fast COVID take a look at to take residence as an incentive. One pandemic-jaded traveler jokes he’d volunteer in the event that they supplied him a free Starbucks as a substitute. She tries once more.

VALDEZ: The place are you coming from?

PETER YUKA: From Nigeria.

VALDEZ: Nigeria is without doubt one of the nations of curiosity for the CDC, so your assist shall be very useful. It is nameless, and it is volunteer.

YUKA: OK. What do I’ve to do?

VALDEZ: Simply need to make a signature, give us some details about the – what number of vaccines did you’ve, when you had been constructive prior to now, and we simply – give us a pattern out of your nostril.

YUKA: For COVID?

It is fairly embarrassing. I’ve executed the take a look at a few occasions. I by no means appreciated it.

VALDEZ: You do it your self. So you are able to do it as you take a look at.

STEIN: He reluctantly agrees, fills out a kind saying he is absolutely vaccinated and by no means examined constructive for COVID.

VALDEZ: You’ll be able to sanitize your palms for me?

STEIN: Valdez pulls out a swab.

VALDEZ: You are going to do 4 circles in every nostril. Take it…

STEIN: He swabs every nostril and drops the swab right into a plastic tube. She palms him his free COVID take a look at.

VALDEZ: OK. Thanks, sir. Thanks for serving to.

STEIN: I pull him apart. Peter Yuka is 38 and on his strategy to research in Texas.

So what do you concentrate on this?

YUKA: I believe it is cool. I believe we must always do no matter we are able to to combat the COVID. And, I imply, I noticed the harm it did to the entire world, and nations like mine had been actually badly affected. So no matter it’s I can do to assist, I am keen to do it.

STEIN: The samples go to a non-public lab for genetic evaluation so scientists can spot any new mutations that may make the virus extra harmful.

CINDY FRIEDMAN: At any time when you’ve viral transmission, these viruses are good. They will mutate, and we need to be forward of the sport and early in our detection of recent variants.

STEIN: Dr. Cindy Friedman runs this system on the CDC.

FRIEDMAN: We’ve got a deal with China proper now as a result of there’s a lot unfold and so little information or data. So we need to ensure that now we have eyes on what variants are popping out of China, however we’re additionally holding a watch on all the opposite areas and the vacationers getting back from these areas.

STEIN: The CDC expanded this system from 5 airports to seven and elevated the variety of flights being screened from 300 to 500 every week, enabling this system to now acquire samples from greater than 4,000 passengers every week. However many scientists doubt that China poses a giant threat proper now. The latest hypertransmissible variant taking up within the U.S. in the intervening time originated in New York. Michael Osterholm is on the College of Minnesota.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM: To date, now we have no proof that there are variants of concern that we have not seen already, and I am unsure that China poses the good threat for brand new variants, essentially. Sure, it is true, 1.4 billion people who may be contaminated – certainly as each new genetic roulette desk throw – however on the identical time, there’s not a number of population-based immunity, which might be what would drive mutations.

STEIN: And a few say it will make extra sense to sequence virus from wastewater from planes, as a substitute of particular person vacationers, to get a greater image about everybody aboard. Jennifer Nuzzo heads Brown College’s Pandemic Middle.

JENNIFER NUZZO: I can think about, if I had been strolling by means of an airport and I wasn’t feeling effectively, and I used to be requested if I needed to take part in a COVID surveillance program – even when I had been assured that it will be nameless – I do not suppose I’d be more likely to need to take part in that surveillance program. You’ll be able to think about different vacationers might need to take a look at themselves privately and know these outcomes earlier than the federal government does.

STEIN: However others surprise if the U.S. is ready to behave aggressively at this level within the pandemic, even when the CDC does spot a worrisome new variant. Sam Scarpino is at Northeastern College.

SAM SCARPINO: We should be having a dialog about what it’s that we do if a novel variant is detected. Proper now, there would not appear to be a lot that anybody is ready to do. We have to have clear steerage round how we’ll really go about slowing the unfold, how we’ll defend people who find themselves in high-risk teams, how we’ll work on getting vaccination numbers up, and so on.

STEIN: Friedman, on the CDC, says the company is taking steps to presumably monitor wastewater from planes. Within the meantime, she says, each bit of data is beneficial to find out how finest to reply if a brand new variant does emerge. The day I visited Dulles, Ana Valdez and her colleagues managed to persuade greater than 50 passengers to volunteer and are attempting to get extra daily.

VALDEZ: Welcome. Welcome to America. Do you want to assist the CDC to search out new COVID variants?

STEIN: Rob Stein, NPR Information.

VALDEZ: So the place are you coming from?

UNIDENTIFIED TRAVELER #2: Taiwan.

VALDEZ: Do you want to assist the CDC?

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content might not be in its remaining kind and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability might fluctuate. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.