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Coronavirus Updates

The u.s. lifts the pandemic travel ban and opens the doors to international visitors.

The Associated Press

Passengers walk through Salt Lake City International Airport, Oct. 27, 2020. More than a year and a half after COVID-19 concerns prompted the U.S. to close its borders to international travelers from countries including Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the U.K. and much of Europe, restrictions are shifting to focus on vaccine status. Rick Bowmer/AP hide caption

Passengers walk through Salt Lake City International Airport, Oct. 27, 2020. More than a year and a half after COVID-19 concerns prompted the U.S. to close its borders to international travelers from countries including Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the U.K. and much of Europe, restrictions are shifting to focus on vaccine status.

The U.S. lifted restrictions Monday on travel from a long list of countries including Mexico, Canada and most of Europe, allowing tourists to make long-delayed trips and family members to reconnect with loved ones after more than a year and a half apart because of the pandemic.

Starting Monday, the U.S. is accepting fully vaccinated travelers at airports and land borders, doing away with a COVID-19 restriction that dates back to the Trump administration. The new rules allow air travel from previously restricted countries as long as the traveler has proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test. Land travel from Mexico and Canada will require proof of vaccination but no test.

Airlines are expecting more travelers from Europe and elsewhere. Data from travel and analytics firm Cirium showed airlines are increasing flights between the United Kingdom and the U.S. by 21% this month over last month.

The change will have a profound effect on the borders with Mexico and Canada, where traveling back and forth was a way of life until the pandemic hit and the U.S. shut down nonessential travel.

Malls, restaurants and Main Street shops in U.S. border towns have been devastated by the lack of visitors from Mexico. On the boundary with Canada, cross-border hockey rivalries were community traditions until being upended by the pandemic. Churches that had members on both sides of the border are hoping to welcome parishioners they haven't seen during COVID-19 shutdown.

Loved ones have missed holidays, birthdays and funerals while nonessential air travel was barred, and they are now eager to reconnect.

River Robinson's American partner wasn't able to be in Canada for the birth of their baby boy 17 months ago because of pandemic-related border closures. She was thrilled to hear the U.S. is reopening its land crossings to vaccinated travelers.

"I'm planning to take my baby down for the American Thanksgiving," said Robinson, who lives in St. Thomas, Ontario. "If all goes smoothly at the border I'll plan on taking him down as much as I can. Is crazy to think he has a whole other side of the family he hasn't even met yet."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. will accept travelers who have been fully vaccinated with any of the vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, not just those in use in the U.S. That means that the AstraZeneca vaccine, widely used in Canada, will be accepted.

For air travelers, the airlines are required to verify vaccine records and match them against ID, and if they don't, they could face fines of up to nearly $35,000 per violation. Airlines will also collect information about passengers for contact tracing efforts. There will be CDC workers spot-checking travelers for compliance in the U.S. At land borders, Customs and Border Protection agents will check vaccine proof.

The moves come as the U.S. has seen its COVID-19 outlook improve dramatically in recent weeks since the summer delta surge that pushed hospitals to the brink in many locations.

clock This article was published more than  2 years ago

Travel ban will end Nov. 8 for international visitors who show proof of vaccination, negative coronavirus test

Children under 18 do not have to show proof of vaccination but will be required to show proof of a negative test

Vaccination will not be required for children under age 18 to travel to the United States once officials lift a ban on international visitors, but they will have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding a flight, according to rules outlined Monday by the Biden administration.

With about two weeks to go before the United States lifts a travel ban on visitors from 33 countries, federal health officials offered more specifics for travelers and airlines before restrictions are lifted Nov. 8. Although vaccination won’t be required for children, most non-U.S. citizens and nonimmigrants arriving by air will have to show both proof of vaccination and proof of a negative coronavirus test taken within three days of departure.

“With science and public health as our guide, the United States has developed a new international air travel system that both enhances the safety of Americans here at home and enhances the safety of international air travel,” the White House said in a statement.

Federal health officials said the exception was made for children because many do not have access to or are not yet eligible for the vaccines. However, children must still be tested before traveling to the United States. Those traveling with vaccinated adults must be tested within the previous three days, while those traveling with unvaccinated adults or who are traveling alone must show proof of a negative test taken one day before their flight.

The new rules don’t require U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to be vaccinated but do outline different testing requirements depending on their vaccine status. Those who have been vaccinated must show proof of a negative test taken within of their departure. Those who are unvaccinated must show proof of a test taken one day before their departure.

It will be up to airlines to verify a person’s vaccination and testing status, officials said. Many airlines already have systems that allow travelers to upload proof of a negative test and vaccine status. In addition, international visitors will have to provide information for how they can be reached in the United States for contact-tracing efforts.

“These are strict safety protocols that follow the science and public health to advance the safety of Americans here at home and the safety of international air travel,” a senior White House official said in a briefing with reporters.

The Biden administration announced in September that it was replacing the travel ban on international visitors with a system that would rely on vaccination, testing and contact tracing for visitors wishing to come to the United States.

U.S. announces end to travel ban on international visitors

The announcement was welcomed by the travel industry, which has been pushing the government for more than a year to lift the travel ban on travelers from 33 countries. With the ban in place, industry representatives feared the United States was losing ground to Europe, which began to ease travel restrictions for Americans this summer. Canada opened its borders on Aug. 9 to visitors from the United States who had been vaccinated.

Kevin M. Burke, president of Airports Council International-North America, said the new protocols will help the nation safely and securely reopen its borders.

“We appreciate the Biden administration’s commitment to working with industry on these complex challenges and we look forward to our ongoing work as the November 8 reopen date nears,” he said in a statement.

Since the announcement in September, the administration has slowly been laying the groundwork for lifting the ban. That included the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deciding which vaccines would be accepted, specifying that travelers must have received those with full or emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization.

Fully vaccinated travelers can come to the U.S. even if their doses are mixed

In January, President Donald Trump announced a plan to end the travel ban, saying it was unnecessary because of his administration’s policy that required international travelers to provide proof of a negative test before boarding U.S.-bound flights. But within days of taking office, the Biden administration reinstated the ban and added South Africa, and later India, to the list, citing the need to control the spread of coronavirus variants.

In June, the White House formed working groups to help determine when to lift rules that banned international visitors from certain countries.

Under the restrictions, most foreign nationals who have been in the United Kingdom, several European Union countries, Brazil or China in the previous 14 days are not permitted to enter the United States. India was added to the list in May.

The White House also announced this month it was easing pandemic-related restrictions on overland border crossings from Canada and Mexico. Officials said Monday they would release additional information about requirements that people coming to the United States via land borders must follow.

The updated policy offers limited exceptions for individuals enrolled in certain coronavirus vaccine clinical trials and those who shouldn’t get vaccinated for medical reasons. Those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons and have a letter issued by the U.S. government verifying their need to travel also may be exempted.

In addition, those with non-tourist visas coming to the United States from countries where there is low vaccine availability as determined by the CDC may be allowed to travel to the United States. Those who receive exemptions but intend to stay for more than 60 days may be required to get vaccinated once in the United States.

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The U.S. Is Lifting Travel Restrictions for Visitors. What Do the New Rules Mean?

The Biden administration will allow vaccinated international travelers to enter the United States, including at land borders with Canada and Mexico. Details remain to be worked out, but here is what we know now.

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By Heather Murphy

The White House has announced that it will open its land borders with Canada and Mexico to fully vaccinated travelers starting on Nov. 8, simultaneously lifting one of the United States’ most far-reaching, pandemic-era travel restrictions and creating a new vetting process for entry.

The development follows a September announcement in which the White House said that, come November, it will lift the 18-month ban on visitors from the European Union, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and India, as long as they can show proof of vaccination and a negative coronavirus test.

Together these two policies fundamentally reshuffle rules about entry into the United States. For more than a year and a half, the United States based decisions on which country a traveler was coming from. The new rules reorient groupings of who can and who cannot enter based on vaccination status.

Along with spurring many people from restricted countries to immediately plan trips to the United States , the new policies also eliminated the need for one of the odder workarounds that sprung up during the pandemic: Travelers from the prohibited countries spending two weeks in an intermediate country — often, Mexico or the Dominican Republic — and then obtaining a negative coronavirus test there before flying to the United States.

Over the past six months, Fabienne Walther, 28, from Switzerland, has helped about 20 Europeans enter the United States via Mexico. Some have rented a room in her temporary home in Playa del Carmen. In other cases, she simply offered moral support and tips about where to eat.

“The whole travel through Mexico thing is a joke,” she said, given that contracting the coronavirus is actually more of a risk in the Cancún area than in the hometowns of many of the travelers she has helped.

The new policies have raised plenty of questions. Many details are yet to be announced, but here is a look at what is currently known about how entry into the United States will change.

How do the new rules affect people from banned countries?

For the past 18 months, virtually all visitors from the banned countries, including those who are members of the European Union and a handful of others, have been prohibited from traveling directly to the United States. Come Nov. 8, this policy will no longer apply, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, announced. Individuals from these countries can fly to the United States — or drive, if coming from Mexico or Canada — as they did before the pandemic, provided they can show proof of vaccination. A negative coronavirus test is also required for those traveling by air — but not for those crossing the land border. No quarantine will be required, regardless of how visitors enter.

The C.D.C. will also issue an order directing airlines to collect phone numbers and email addresses of travelers for a new contact-tracing system. Additional details of the contact-tracing system have not yet been outlined.

Unvaccinated people who are not American citizens will not be permitted to enter the United States.

What about people coming from Canada and Mexico? If travelers go through the land border, do they have to be vaccinated?

Regardless of whether people fly or drive in from Canada or Mexico they must be vaccinated. Initially, the new policy for international visitors only applied to people boarding an airplane. And vaccination status aside, land borders with Canada and Mexico are currently closed for all but essential travel. But in November, when the United States reopens the land borders, similar restrictions regarding vaccination status will apply, the White House said on Tuesday.

The shift in policy will also eventually affect people who were never banned from traveling across the land border. Commercial drivers and students, for example, will need to show proof of vaccination, starting in January, giving them some time to adjust to the new rules, officials said.

Until November, only essential visitors can drive in. The definition of “essential” offered by the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Canada includes “work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care, and safety and security.”

What does fully vaccinated mean? Which vaccines will be accepted?

The United States will accept vaccines authorized by U.S. regulators or listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization, according to the C.D.C. This includes Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, two versions of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Sinopharm and Sinovac. Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is not currently on the accepted list, meaning that most Russians and others inoculated with Sputnik V may be prohibited from entering the United States.

People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a spokeswoman for the C.D.C. said. “Mix and match” vaccines, an inoculation strategy involving a first dose of one vaccine and a second dose of a different vaccine, will be accepted as long as each dose involved is an accepted vaccine, the C.D.C. said.

How do the new rules affect people from countries that were not on the banned list?

The new policy applies to everyone who is not a U.S. citizen, including individuals from Japan, Singapore, Mexico and many other countries whose citizens have been able to fly to the United States throughout the pandemic. Though vaccination status does not currently affect whether or not these individuals can enter the United States, in November only fully vaccinated travelers will be permitted.

Already these individuals have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test taken within three days of boarding a flight. This requirement will remain.

The policy applies to all “foreign nationals,” meaning that long-term residents of the United States who are not American citizens would not be able to leave the country and then re-enter unless they are fully vaccinated.

What about U.S. citizens?

The vaccination stipulation does not apply to U.S. citizens. But the new policy does require unvaccinated Americans to provide proof of a negative result from a test taken within one day of their return flight to the United States, and to test again after they land.

What about children and others who can’t get vaccinated for medical reasons?

Children under the age of 18 who are unvaccinated, and a limited category of foreigners arriving from countries with low vaccination rates, are among the travelers exempted from the requirements, Biden administration officials said on Oct. 25.

What restrictions on entering the United States will remain come November?

For people from many parts of the world — even before the pandemic — access into the United States was not easy. One of the reasons that the travel ban had such a profound impact is that it applied to many of the countries whose citizens traditionally had the easiest time gaining entry to the United States.

The new policy does not rewrite who can enter the United States without a visa, but it does severely limit who can enter the United States. Only four percent of the population in Africa is fully vaccinated; less than a third of residents are fully vaccinated in many parts of Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. In some cases, not getting vaccinated is a choice; in others, people simply do not have access to vaccines. Regardless of their reasons, these individuals will no longer be able to travel to the United States.

Ceylan Yeginsu contributed reporting from Turkey and Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed from Washington.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places list for 2021 .

Heather Murphy is a reporter on the Travel desk. She welcomes tips, questions and complaints about traveling during the pandemic. More about Heather Murphy

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Austria will release funds to the U.N.'s Palestinian relief organisation UNRWA that were blocked after allegations agency staff were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

China's agriculture minister is being investigated for suspected violations of law and discipline, the country's anti-graft watchdog said on Saturday.

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May 17, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

By Leinz Vales, Deva Lee, Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal, Tori B. Powell and Chris Lau, CNN

Biden's national security adviser is traveling to Saudi Arabia and Israel amid stalled ceasefire talks

From CNN's MJ Lee

US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel over the weekend, according to a US official, as the ceasefire and hostages negotiations have stalled and Israel continues to threaten to intensify its military operations in Rafah.

He will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their respective countries, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

US officials have said that they have not yet seen Israeli forces begin a major ground incursion into southern Gaza yet, while reiterating Biden’s warning that if Israel were to make such a move, the US would hold back on additional offensive weapons shipments to its ally.

Israeli officials have assured their US counterparts that they have no intention of launching a major military operation into Rafah until more conversations have taken place between the two sides, according to this US official, including the various meetings Sullivan plans to have over the weekend while in Israel.

Sullivan’s trip to Saudi Arabia also comes as the Biden administration continues to push for a deal to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The post was updated with details about who Sullivan will meet during his trip.

Key things to know about the US-built floating pier and the aid that is being delivered to Gaza through it

From CNN's Colin McCullough, Jessie Yeung and Nadeen Ebrahim

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza have begun moving ashore after arriving through the  floating pier  built by the US military, according to the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

The pier was anchored to a beach in Gaza on Thursday and will be used to funnel aid from various countries into the besieged strip, with most border crossings to the enclave closed and a catastrophic humanitarian disaster unfolding inside.

The maritime corridor is coming at a critical moment – with the Rafah border crossing to Gaza having been  closed for more than a week , preventing aid from getting through. That crossing was the only one between Gaza and Egypt – with all other border points in the strip controlled by Israel.

Here are key things to know about the pier and the aid that is starting to enter Gaza:

How much aid is expected? The goal is to get about 500 tons of humanitarian assistance into Gaza through the pier daily, according to Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM. That means about 90 trucks worth of aid a day, and the goal is to build up to 150 trucks a day.

How was the pier built and how will it work? The US began building the  floating pier  in late April at a cost of $320 million and with the help of some 1,000 US soldiers and sailors. The US said that it is only a temporary measure that is “entirely humanitarian in nature.” Pieces for the pier were loaded aboard ships on the East Coast of the US and then “transported 6,000 miles across the ocean,” according to CENTCOM’s Cooper. The pieces were assembled off the coast of Gaza, with final assembly taking place in the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Why is aid being shipped this way? Most land crossings into Gaza remain either shut or congested due to lengthy inspections by Israel. That has led the US and other countries to start air-dropping aid into Gaza, which human rights organizations have criticized as insufficient. The  UN has warned of  famine setting in in parts of Gaza, calling on Israel to open more land crossings for aid. 

How much aid is getting into Gaza now? The US State Department has said that “not nearly enough” trucks are getting into Gaza. The UN estimates that 500 trucks are needed per day to alleviate the suffering of Gazans, but on May 11, UN figures showed that only six trucks entered. No data is available after that date.

Keep reading about the pier and aid being delivered.

At least 31 killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza over past 24 hours, Palestinian Ministry of Health says

From CNN’s Kareem Khadder and Lucas Lilieholm

Israeli strikes have killed at least 31 people and injured 56 in Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the strip on Friday.

The death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 has now surpassed 35,300, with 79,261 injuries, the ministry added. CNN cannot verify the ministry’s numbers, and it does not distinguish between casualties among fighters and civilians.

It does not include in its figures the several thousand people thought to be missing in Gaza since October 7.

Earlier Friday morning, civil defense officials and local journalists said that Israeli strikes on the enclave had killed at least 10 people and wounded others.

An airstrike on the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least six people, according to civil defense officials who arrived on the scene and evacuated a number of wounded. The Jabalya district of northern Gaza has seen intense combat operations in recent days. A hospital in northern Gaza received several bodies and many injured people after Israeli strikes on Thursday, according to a CNN stringer present.

Persistent gunfire could be heard throughout the night Thursday into Friday in Jabalya, according to residents in the area.

Salama Maroof, head of the government media office in Gaza, said in a Thursday statement that the Israeli military had invaded Jabalya and cut off the northeastern settlement of Beit Hanoun.

In a separate attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, at least four people were killed when Israeli warplanes struck the Al-Jaouni School, which shelters displaced people. Local journalists witnessed the bodies arriving at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah.

This post has been updated with additional figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

British aid delivered to Gaza in first shipment via US-built pier

From CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London

The aid shipment delivered to Gaza via a US-built pier included British humanitarian aid.

The shipment, which had the aid provided by the United Kingdom, will be enough to feed 11,000 people for a month, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said Friday.

“The UK continues to play a key role in this herculean international effort,” Shapps wrote on X . 

The UK is supporting logistics coordination in Cyprus and has deployed a Navy vessel to help US personnel construct and operate the pier, he added.

How it works: The content of the aid shipments to Gaza is inspected in Cyprus. Upon reaching the Gaza shore, the aid is moved on the pier by trucks already on the ships to a facility in Gaza. The World Food Programme will then act as the logistical arm of the United Nations to deliver the aid to other agencies or distribute it, a UN official told CNN.

CNN’s Kareem Khadder and Sarah El Sirgany in Jerusalem contributed reporting to this post.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for dozens of rocket launches toward Golan Heights

From CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury and Charbel Mallo 

Lebanese group Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for dozens of rocket launches toward the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday.

In a statement, the militant group said it launched 50 Katyusha rockets targeting an Israeli military base in Golan in response to the Israeli attack on Al-Najariya in southern Lebanon earlier in the day, which Lebanon's official National News Agency had reported killed two boys. 

In later statements, Hezbollah said it also targeted an additional Israeli site in Golan with rockets and another at the Lebanon-Israel border with artillery shells.

2 slightly injured after 75 launches were detected crossing from Lebanon, Israel's military says 

From Tamar Michaelis

In additional exchanges across Israel’s northern border, as the war in Gaza rages on, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that approximately 75 launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Friday and "dozens" were intercepted.

Israeli emergency services reported that two men were slightly injured in the Galilee area and were taken to the hospital.

The IDF said that earlier Friday, “IDF soldiers identified a Hezbollah launcher in the area of Yaroun which was ready to fire launches toward Israeli territory.”

“A short while afterward, an IDF fighter jet struck and dismantled the launcher, preventing a large number of launches," the military added.

Northern Gaza hospital says it received more than 100 dead bodies since Israel resumed operations in the area

From CNN's Kareem Khadder and Sarah El Sirgany in Jerusalem

The Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has received at least 112 bodies and treated 308 injured people since the Israeli operation in the north began nearly a week ago, the hospital's director, Dr. Husam Abu Saifya, told CNN on Friday. 

Safiya said that of the total number of bodies, 12 were killed overnight Thursday into Friday, when bombardment in the area continued throughout the night. The injuries the hospital received comprised of burns and severed limbs, he added. 

He warned of dwindling fuel and medical supplies, saying the last fuel delivery from the World Health Organization (WHO) "was five days ago."

"This shipment is enough to operate the hospital for 10 days, while the hospital needs a month supply to operate securely. This would be the ICU, the kidney dialysis and all the electricity-dependent services provided by the hospital," he added. 

He said he doesn’t know when the WHO would deliver fuel and supplies or whether it would be enough.

For context: The Israeli military renewed ground operations  in northern Gaza on Saturday, saying Hamas was trying to "reassemble" in the area. The north has been hit with intense Israeli shelling and gunfire, especially in and around the Jabalya refugee camp. 

2 children killed in airstrikes that Israeli military says targeted Hezbollah in the south

From CNN’s Charbel Mallo and Kareem El Damanhoury

Israeli airstrikes killed two boys in the town of Al-Najariya in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA). 

The two Syrian siblings, Ossama and Hani Al-Khalid, succumbed to their injuries from the air raid, NNA said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military says the airstrikes targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in Al-Najariya that “posed a threat to Israeli aircraft,” accusing the group of operating in civilian areas and endangering lives.

Around the same time, Hezbollah announced the death of one of its members, 62-year-old Hussein Khidr Mahdi, in the same area on Friday.

It is unclear if he was killed in the same airstrikes.

IDF says brigade leading Jabalya operation in northern Gaza now fighting in city center

The Israel Defense Forces says that the brigade leading the offensive in Jabalya in northern Gaza is now “fighting in the city center.”

The IDF posted an operational update Friday saying that its 7th Brigade “eliminated more than 60 terrorists in the past days in Jabalya.”

“The 7th Brigade led the divisional-level offensive in Jabaliya and is now fighting in the city center," the IDF said.

The IDF said that in less than a week of operations, “the soldiers encountered dozens of terrorists, initiated contact, and eliminated more than 60 terrorists through ground and aerial operations. Even now, the soldiers are exchanging fire with terrorist cells in the area.”

The IDF also asserted that soldiers located a weapons warehouse “with dozens of long-range rockets ready for use, dozens of rocket parts, explosives, and other weapons. The weapons warehouse is located about ten meters (about 33 feet) from a shelter complex from which the population was evacuated and where 20 terrorists were apprehended,” it said.

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'Breaking up families': CDC announces strict rules for traveling to the US with your dog

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new restrictions Wednesday on dogs traveling to the U.S., which some say will make it harder for families returning to the country with their pets or adopting pets internationally.

The new regulation, which goes into effect August 1, bans all dogs under six months from entering the U.S. Dogs over six months must show proof they have not been in a country identified as high-risk for rabies. Without proof, the dog faces potential quarantine. Dogs must also be microchipped.

The tighter restrictions are meant "to protect the health and safety of people and animals by making sure any dog arriving in the United States is healthy and doesn’t present a risk to our communities," the CDC said in a press release Wednesday.

The U.S. eliminated rabies in 2007, and the new rules are meant to prevent the re-introduction of the viral disease, which is transmitted through biting. The agency has identified 131 countries as high risk for rabies as of Aug. 2023.

The CDC also said it has seen "recent challenges with international dog importations," such as fraudulent documents or dogs kept in unsafe conditions.

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However, some say the restrictions will negatively impact families and those wanting to rescue pets overseas from legitimate organizations because it can be “especially challenging” to provide proof of a dog’s whereabouts," according to the Humane Society Legislative Fund in a press release on Wednesday. “Far fewer dogs will be able to find loving homes in the U.S.," the release said.

“The CDC’s job is to maintain public health, but these new requirements may needlessly delay Americans – including government personnel and military families – from returning to the United States with their pets, creating great anguish and breaking up families in the process,” said Tracie Letterman, vice president of federal affairs at Humane Society Legislative Fund, in a statement in the release. 

Airlines may also struggle to implement the new restrictions.

“Airlines will be left to their own discretion to enforce these rules, and if they err, it’s up to the airline to export the dog back to the dog’s country of origin,” the Humane Society Legislative Fund said. “To avoid confusion or difficulties, some airlines may opt out of allowing customers to travel into the U.S. with dogs.”

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at [email protected] .