This fall, for the first time ever, Ebola turned up in the United States, raising concerns about how infectious diseases can spread via air travel, and discussion about how airports can help in the efforts to curtail a potential pandemic. “Airports can help prevent the spread of infectious diseases in a number of ways. Thermal imaging cameras can be used to determine whether a passenger has a high temperature, for example, while behavior monitoring can be used to identify passengers that look ill,” shared John Nemerofsky, CEO, Xentry Systems Integration, Columbus, Ohio.
Thermal imaging cameras and sensors that can detect body heat such as produced by fevers are now common in all airport environments for surveillance purposes. These security tools offer an array of data and information to enhance situational awareness, and some U.S. airports are currently using thermal cameras along their perimeters to detect the presence of humans and other objects.