|
See related info, links below. KwC Signs
point to global flu outbreak, WHO says Reuters, Updated:
12:17 p.m. ET July 22, 2005 GENEVA - Indonesia’s first human bird flu case, coupled
with more birds dying elsewhere including Russia, are signs a long-dreaded
global influenza pandemic may be approaching, the World Health Organization
said on Friday. Health officials
fear the virus will mutate and mix with human influenza, creating a deadly
pandemic strain that becomes easily transmissible and could kill millions of
people. Margaret Chan, WHO’s new
director for pandemic influenza preparedness, said there had been no known
sustained human to human transmission of the deadly virus, but called for
stepping up disease surveillance among poultry and humans worldwide. Indonesia this week
confirmed its first death from the virus, which has so far killed more than 50
people since late 2003 in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, roughly half of the
known cases. An Indonesian
government official was confirmed as having died of the H5N1 bird flu virus,
but results of laboratory tests on his two young daughters who also died are
still awaited. 'More and more birds are dying'
“This
is more evidence for us to be concerned about developments in the region,” Chan
told a news briefing. “This is
perhaps the only time since 1968, which was the last pandemic, that we are
getting signs, symptoms and warnings from nature ... More and more birds are
dying in different parts of the world — this is the kind of signals, and early
warnings that we are referring to.” Russia this week said it had discovered a
disease in poultry in a remote village in Siberia, its first suspected case of bird flu. Around
300 birds died and specimens are being analyzed. Chan, a former
health director of Hong Kong who helped contain its bird flu and SARS outbreaks
of 1997, said the WHO’s risk assessment of a global pandemic still stood at
three on a scale of six. “We need
to be very vigilant and look for early signals or signs of sustained human to
human transmission,” she said. “We need to advise people from farm to table on
what actions they can take or can advise communities to take to reduce that
risk.” Preventative
measures: Mixed
poultry trading — where ducks, geese, chickens and sometimes pigeons are sold
side-by-side at market — can be an "enabling environment for the virus to
mutate," Chan
said. Recommended measures include separating poultry, vaccination of poultry,
and other biosecurity measures on farms, she said. “Our experience is that if you are prepared for a pandemic
you get less impact in terms of mortality and morbidity and social and economic
disruption,” she said. Chan also said that
the WHO, a United Nations agency, was still pressing China to allow
international laboratories to examine specimens from birds in Qinghai, where
the H5N1 virus has killed more than 5,000 birds from five species. The WHO is urging
China to test the other 184 species in the area, fearing birds which appear
healthy could also spread the disease. This would help understand the evolution
of the virus and inform public health decisions, according to Chan. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights
reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly
prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8667835/ Bird Flu News http://www.sars.com.sg/birdflu/bfnews.php Bird Flu confirmed at
farm in Japan http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062601053.html Center for Disease Control (CDC) Pandemic
Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/pandemics.htm US criticized for
Bird Flu plans http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/106/108247.htm This is what I found on US emergency plans for an expected flu
pandemic: most of this information is from 2004.
From Nursing
Spectrum: “Epidemiologists are now watching for a
mutation of the virus allowing person-to-person transmission. The most likely scenario, health officials say,
is someone infected with a human flu virus also becoming infected with bird
flu. The viruses
could merge, unleashing a deadly illness as contagious as common flu upon a
population with no ready antibodies. Scientists now believe some forms of
human-bird viral combination were responsible for flu pandemics in the previous
century. …Government health
officials are preparing for clinical trials of an H5N1 vaccine this month. But any vaccine specific to a virus
responsible for a pandemic would probably not be ready for at least six months
after the first infections — and when it was ready, there would not be enough
to vaccinate everyone, says Shelly McKeirnan, RN, MPH, epidemic response
coordinator for the communicable disease, epidemiology and immunization section
of the public health department for Seattle and surrounding King County, Wash. Some countries are
stockpiling the antiviral drug oseltamivir, or Tamiflu, which has been shown to be effective against
H5N1 in laboratory tests. But the drug is expensive, and other tests have shown
the virus can mutate to make the drug less effective, according to press
reports. Nurses need to have
increased awareness of what is happening with avian influenza, says Linda
Chiarello, RN, MS, an infection control consultant with the CDC who is helping
the organization develop a pandemic plan for health care facilities. They
should be reading avian flu reports on the CDC
and WHO websites. Health care
facilities should be able to monitor the diagnoses and hospital admissions of
patients who have regular influenza and be ready to detect any new strain, she
says. They should look for suspicious cases, such as a patient with flu
symptoms who comes to the hospital after the normal flu season is over. McKeirnan recommends that nurses get
involved in creating or familiarizing themselves with their facilities’
emergency preparedness plans. She also recommends that they read the Department of Health and Human Service’s
Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan.” http://community.nursingspectrum.com/MagazineArticles/article.cfm?AID=13780 Mail scanned by NAV |
_______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
