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Navajo prepare for H5N1
Navajo prepare for H5N1
Posted: September 22, 2006
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today
PHOENIX - While states prepare for the possibility of an avian flu pandemic, the Navajo Nation veterinary program, with its expertise in zoonotic diseases, is the lead agency for H5N1 detection and control in bird species on the Navajo Nation.
''They are already doing wild bird surveillance and that would be the lead agency for any detection or eradication that were to occur in poultry or other birds on the Nation,'' George Hardeen, communications director for Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., said.
Dr. Scott Bender, veterinarian with the Navajo Nation Veterinary and Livestock Program under the Navajo Department of Agriculture, said the tribe has a bird flu response plan.
Bender said there are two sites where wild birds are under surveillance on the Navajo Nation, at Navajo lakes located in New Mexico and Arizona, where bird droppings are being monitored.
The program operates in accordance with the Navajo Nation Title 3 and the Navajo Nation's Foreign Animal Disease Response plan. Bender said the tribe has updated its Title 3 livestock legal codes to bring them up to modern times. He said they were outdated, with BIA codes requiring Navajos to take their sheep for annual sheep dipping, which has not happened since the 1960s and '70s, he said.
From 2001 until July of this year, Navajo officials completed the revisions that now include the tribe's ability to quarantine livestock and people to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. The Navajo code grew from nine pages to 46 pages.
Bender, however, said people in the United States are not at the same high risk for contracting bird flu as are people in Asia.
''You have to be in constant contact with birds to contract this,'' Bender said, pointing out that people in Asia often literally ''live with their birds.''
Bender also pointed out that from a worldwide perspective, the bird flu has not led to as many deaths as bubonic plague or rabies.
''More people die from plague,'' Bender said, pointing out that 36,000 people died last year from rabies.
Bender also pointed out that Tamiflu has not been that effective in the treatment of bird flu in Asia.
Bender said there are additional problems with in-demand treatment drugs worldwide, resulting from the fact that the initial company producing each drug holds the patent for 14 years. Further, drug counterfeits are becoming a growing problem in black markets, including fake versions of Tamiflu, he said.
Tamiflu is the No. 1 drug being used to treat the H5N1 strain of bird flu. In July, the Pentagon ordered $58 million worth of Tamiflu for the treatment for U.S. troops. Then, the United States signed a two-year deal to help states buy more than half a billion dollars' worth of Tamiflu, with states in the United States required to pay three-quarters of it.
The states' share will be $447 million, and the federal share will be $149 million. Although Tamiflu has not been successful in the treatment of all bird flu cases, including those in Vietnam, in August California became one of 13 U.S. states to purchase the drug. California ordered $53 million in anti-viral medications.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said, ''Helping states develop their own medical stockpiles will facilitate quicker distribution of antiviral drugs in the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak.
''Our ultimate goal is to stockpile sufficient quantities of antiviral drugs to treat 25 percent of the U.S. population,'' Leavitt said, adding that the goal is to be able to treat 81 million people by 2008.
For many Navajos, the bird flu scare is reminiscent of the deadly hantavirus epidemic, which Navajos still question.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the hantavirus on the Navajo Nation was carried by field mice, Navajos pointed out that the field mice have always been there. Further, Navajos point out that the area with the heaviest concentration of field mice, including the Tsaile and Chuska Mountains where the large population of mice harvest pinions, were not areas hit by the hantavirus.
Posted: September 22, 2006
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today
PHOENIX - While states prepare for the possibility of an avian flu pandemic, the Navajo Nation veterinary program, with its expertise in zoonotic diseases, is the lead agency for H5N1 detection and control in bird species on the Navajo Nation.
''They are already doing wild bird surveillance and that would be the lead agency for any detection or eradication that were to occur in poultry or other birds on the Nation,'' George Hardeen, communications director for Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., said.
Dr. Scott Bender, veterinarian with the Navajo Nation Veterinary and Livestock Program under the Navajo Department of Agriculture, said the tribe has a bird flu response plan.
Bender said there are two sites where wild birds are under surveillance on the Navajo Nation, at Navajo lakes located in New Mexico and Arizona, where bird droppings are being monitored.
The program operates in accordance with the Navajo Nation Title 3 and the Navajo Nation's Foreign Animal Disease Response plan. Bender said the tribe has updated its Title 3 livestock legal codes to bring them up to modern times. He said they were outdated, with BIA codes requiring Navajos to take their sheep for annual sheep dipping, which has not happened since the 1960s and '70s, he said.
From 2001 until July of this year, Navajo officials completed the revisions that now include the tribe's ability to quarantine livestock and people to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. The Navajo code grew from nine pages to 46 pages.
Bender, however, said people in the United States are not at the same high risk for contracting bird flu as are people in Asia.
''You have to be in constant contact with birds to contract this,'' Bender said, pointing out that people in Asia often literally ''live with their birds.''
Bender also pointed out that from a worldwide perspective, the bird flu has not led to as many deaths as bubonic plague or rabies.
''More people die from plague,'' Bender said, pointing out that 36,000 people died last year from rabies.
Bender also pointed out that Tamiflu has not been that effective in the treatment of bird flu in Asia.
Bender said there are additional problems with in-demand treatment drugs worldwide, resulting from the fact that the initial company producing each drug holds the patent for 14 years. Further, drug counterfeits are becoming a growing problem in black markets, including fake versions of Tamiflu, he said.
Tamiflu is the No. 1 drug being used to treat the H5N1 strain of bird flu. In July, the Pentagon ordered $58 million worth of Tamiflu for the treatment for U.S. troops. Then, the United States signed a two-year deal to help states buy more than half a billion dollars' worth of Tamiflu, with states in the United States required to pay three-quarters of it.
The states' share will be $447 million, and the federal share will be $149 million. Although Tamiflu has not been successful in the treatment of all bird flu cases, including those in Vietnam, in August California became one of 13 U.S. states to purchase the drug. California ordered $53 million in anti-viral medications.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said, ''Helping states develop their own medical stockpiles will facilitate quicker distribution of antiviral drugs in the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak.
''Our ultimate goal is to stockpile sufficient quantities of antiviral drugs to treat 25 percent of the U.S. population,'' Leavitt said, adding that the goal is to be able to treat 81 million people by 2008.
For many Navajos, the bird flu scare is reminiscent of the deadly hantavirus epidemic, which Navajos still question.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the hantavirus on the Navajo Nation was carried by field mice, Navajos pointed out that the field mice have always been there. Further, Navajos point out that the area with the heaviest concentration of field mice, including the Tsaile and Chuska Mountains where the large population of mice harvest pinions, were not areas hit by the hantavirus.
