And if you don't think about it on the way over, you'll definitely be aware of it returning to the United States. To protect against an inadvertent spread of the economically devastating disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched a program to alert U.S.-bound airline passengers coming from the European Union countries.
Some carriers hand passengers information sheets.
Cabin crews make announcements on their U.S.-bound flights and tell passengers they must check the box on their U.S. Customs forms as to whether they have visited a farm. Arriving passengers can expect to be asked by U.S. Customs whether they ve visited a farm, a rural area, stayed at a bed and breakfast in the countryside, or whether they've brought back meat or food products. U.S. Customs is using its Beagle Brigade to sniff luggage and passengers for contraband meat products as well as drugs. Passengers who've been out in the countryside can have their shoes and luggage disinfected, U.S. officials said. A bleach solution will be used to cleanse the shoes of anyone who has visited a farm in one of the 15 countries in the European Union.