Sometimes people who volunteer for screening know of carriers in their family, which makes it harder to get accurate statistics, says Dr. Kaback, who helped drive screening in the Jewish community.

WSJ: New Study Looks at Irish Risk for Tay-Sachs Disease

Good screening programmes in the Bahamas have helped to slow the infection rate, and drug treatments there and in Barbados that help to prevent pregnant mothers passing the disease to their children have been copied elsewhere.

ECONOMIST: The Caribbean

Routine screening in the U.S. has helped catch the cancer early, making it rarer.

FORBES

Screening is now routine for infants, and expanded vaccination programs have helped reduce new infections, but many immigrants and AAPIs born in the US before the 1990s have never been tested.

WHITEHOUSE: Hepatitis B and the AAPI Community

Obama said courageous actions by other passengers and crew members helped avert a disaster, and he outlined steps including reviews of passenger screening procedures and terrorism watch lists for air travel as a response.

CNN: Obama vows to 'keep up the pressure' on terrorists