MHSC
Senior Moderator
Wanda Sandele, Craven County Health director lets the news of H5N1 in Canada slip.
I wonder if this is considered official notice for the public?
http://www.newbernsj.com/SiteProces...2&Section=Local
Avian flu outbreak considered inevitable
June 30,2006
SUE BOOK
SUN JOURNAL STAFF
Craven health director tells commissioners that primary risk factor is from handling poultry
A community effort to plan for the worst influenza outbreak imaginable is under way in Craven County, not because it?s here or even near, but because health officials feel it is inevitable.
?Avian flu right now is just that, in birds,? Wanda Sandele, Craven County health director, told Craven commissioners recently, and the primary risk factor is from handling poultry.
But Sandele and state and federal health officials think it is coming.
?The issue of pandemic flu is not a question of if. It is a question of when and how much,? she said.
There is currently no evidence of sustained person-to-person transmission of avian flu anywhere and none in migratory birds, poultry or humans in the U.S. But the outbreak of the virus identified as H5N1 which began in December 2003 continues to circulate widely in Asia, Europe and Africa.
Two different strains of avian influenza viruses were detected in poultry in Texas and Maryland in 2004 and recently a case of H5N1 was detected in waterfowl in Canada, Sandele said.
?When I first started here, we didn?t have rabies in this county,? she said. But health officials watched the spread as they are of avian flu in order to be prepared in an effort to reduce morbidity, mortality, and social disruption.
Sandele said pandemic preparedness in North Carolina includes a response plan, as it does in Craven County. That involves laboratory diagnosis, community containment, travel guidelines, a mass fatality plan, and an examination of the legal and mental health issues.
A plan for mass vaccination is also part of pandemic preparedness, but that can?t take place until a vaccine is found.
In the meantime, efforts are under way to increase awareness outside the area of public health including simple public health education on the best way to control infection for flu and other disease, like hand washing and social distancing.
Social distancing would require the county, as well as individual businesses and institutions, to determine their essential personnel and services, examine time-leave policies to facilitate a 40 percent reduction in work force that could include some people working from their home.
Sue Book can be reached at (252) 635-5666 or sbook@freedomenc.com <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
I wonder if this is considered official notice for the public?
http://www.newbernsj.com/SiteProces...2&Section=Local
Avian flu outbreak considered inevitable
June 30,2006
SUE BOOK
SUN JOURNAL STAFF
Craven health director tells commissioners that primary risk factor is from handling poultry
A community effort to plan for the worst influenza outbreak imaginable is under way in Craven County, not because it?s here or even near, but because health officials feel it is inevitable.
?Avian flu right now is just that, in birds,? Wanda Sandele, Craven County health director, told Craven commissioners recently, and the primary risk factor is from handling poultry.
But Sandele and state and federal health officials think it is coming.
?The issue of pandemic flu is not a question of if. It is a question of when and how much,? she said.
There is currently no evidence of sustained person-to-person transmission of avian flu anywhere and none in migratory birds, poultry or humans in the U.S. But the outbreak of the virus identified as H5N1 which began in December 2003 continues to circulate widely in Asia, Europe and Africa.
Two different strains of avian influenza viruses were detected in poultry in Texas and Maryland in 2004 and recently a case of H5N1 was detected in waterfowl in Canada, Sandele said.
?When I first started here, we didn?t have rabies in this county,? she said. But health officials watched the spread as they are of avian flu in order to be prepared in an effort to reduce morbidity, mortality, and social disruption.
Sandele said pandemic preparedness in North Carolina includes a response plan, as it does in Craven County. That involves laboratory diagnosis, community containment, travel guidelines, a mass fatality plan, and an examination of the legal and mental health issues.
A plan for mass vaccination is also part of pandemic preparedness, but that can?t take place until a vaccine is found.
In the meantime, efforts are under way to increase awareness outside the area of public health including simple public health education on the best way to control infection for flu and other disease, like hand washing and social distancing.
Social distancing would require the county, as well as individual businesses and institutions, to determine their essential personnel and services, examine time-leave policies to facilitate a 40 percent reduction in work force that could include some people working from their home.
Sue Book can be reached at (252) 635-5666 or sbook@freedomenc.com <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
