News

18 March 2008

1. ACT Government Pandemic Planning Framework Released
2. Online Snapshot of 1918 Flu Pandemic
3. World Health Organisation Warnings on Avian and Pandemic Influenza
4. Publications
   • Home Care Guide for Pandemic Flu
   • Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism
   • 2007 FBIIC/ FSSCC Pandemic Flu Exercise Results Released
   • US Department of Homeland Security Releases National Response Framework
   • Federal Guidance To Assist States In Improving State-Level Pandemic Influenza Operating Plans
5. Events
   • 2nd Pandemic Influenza and Workplace Infectious Diseases Summit
   • 2nd Australasian Pandemic Influenza History Symposium

ACT Government Pandemic Planning Framework Released

The ACT Government released a Pandemic Planning Framework in December 2007 that focuses on human cases of pandemic influenza. The aim of the Framework is to guide and support integrated contingency planning for a flu pandemic to minimise the impact of a pandemic on the ACT community. The Framework provides guidance to Government agencies and the community in order to keep essential services operational.
The Framework is designed to complement excisting emergency management arrangements including:

• The ACT Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza
• The ACT Emergency Plan (which includes two functional sub plans)
• The ACT Media and Communications Emergency Plan
• The ACT Community Recovery Plan
• Other specific ACT plans and frameworks including those relating to workforce planning

The Framework can be found here.

Online Snapshot of 1918 Flu Pandemic

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released an online resource that the agency says explains the circumstances and history of the worldwide 1918 influenza pandemic.
According to the site's main page, the influenza pandemic occurred in three waves in the United States throughout 1918 and 1919. Resources available include a snapshot of what the world was like in 1918; a state-to-state breakdown of the influenza's spread; advertisements, posters, and news clippings in use at the time.

To visit the website, click here.

World Health Organisation Warnings on Avian and Pandemic Influenza

Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization made a speech at New Delhi International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in December 2007. She made three main points.

The first point was that the world should not let down their guard in regards to avian and pandemic influenza, due to the fact that:

• Scientists now believe that if the H5N1 virus acquires pandemic potential, it will do so through adaptive mutation and it is not known if or when this might occur.
• It is not known if the current high mortality, at 61%, will be maintained, if the next pandemic will be caused by H5N1 or another virus, and also how much time is left to prepare.
• There is no reason to believe that anything about the behaviour of influenza viruses, or anything about in which the planet is inhabited, will protect the 21st century from influenza pandemics.

The second point brought to attention that the world has an unprecedented opportunity in the advanced warning of such a pandemic. It has never before had such advantages. Key issues were:

• Over the past four years, considerable progress has been made. The world has a rapid containment protocol, backed by a stockpile of oseltamivir, for use near the start of a pandemic.
• The world is building up an international stockpile of H5N1 vaccines. It has a plan for increasing the global supply of pandemic vaccines.
• Almost all countries now have pandemic preparedness plans, and many of these plans have been tested in national and regional exercises.

In making this point, Dr. Chan mentioned however, that human cases are being missed due to the fact that initial symptoms of this disease mimic those of many others commonly seen in affected countries. She stated that the countries with recurring epidemics in poultry and recurring sporadic human cases are largely poor countries. Wealthy countries have been able to contain poultry outbreaks fairly quickly - not a single human case has occurred in a wealthy country whilst elsewhere the virus has become entrenched in birds.

She also stated that theoretically, the world should be able to reduce the number of human cases, and thus the risk of an influenza pandemic, through education and behavioural change. The vast majority of human cases with a known exposure history have been linked to contact with birds kept by households, and not in the commercial sector. Most cases have occurred in poor populations, in which her reasoning was that poor people will not bury their food.
The third point was that preparedness for an influenza pandemic needs to extend beyond the health sector. She noted that:

• SARS demonstrated how the world has changed in terms of its vulnerability to the consequences of a new disease. And these consequences include massive economic and social disruption.
• Conservative estimates predict that around 20% of the total world population will fall ill during the next influenza pandemic. As many as 28 million people may need hospital care over a relatively short period. The world does not have this kind of surge capacity.
• Worker absenteeism is likely to reach 35% of the workforce or higher, as workers stay home to care for ill family members or to protect themselves from becoming infected.

The speech can be viewed here.

Publications

Home Care Guide for Pandemic Flu

The US Santa Clara County Public Health Department has produced a Home Care Guide for Pandemic Flu. It can be used to help people prepare at home to take care of their sick family or household members. It includes the following tools:

• Lists of emergency supplies that can be used during any emergency, as well as supplies needed specifically for pandemic influenza.
• Guidelines on how to limit the spread of disease at home.
• Instructions on how to take care of sick family or household members safely and effectively.
• Basic information about pandemic flu, avian flu and other topics.

The guide can be found here.

Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) recently released the fifth annual ‘Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism’ report, which found that while important progress has been made, critical areas of the nation's emergency health preparedness effort still require attention. In addition, the continuing trend of annual cuts in federal funding for state and local preparedness activities threatens the nation's safety. The report contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on ten key indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities. All fifty U.S. states and the District of Columbia (DC) were evaluated based on data from publicly available sources or public officials in 2007. It found that:

• Thirty-five states and DC scored eight or higher on the scale of ten indicators
• Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia scored the highest with 10 out of 10
• Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Wyoming scored the lowest with six out of 10.

The report is available here.

2007 FBIIC/ FSSCC Pandemic Flu Exercise Results Released

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security (FSSCC), and the Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) have released the in-depth results of the FBIIC/FSSCC Pandemic Flu Exercise of 2007. The report provides a thorough examination of the industry's plans during a pandemic outbreak. Results compare industry responses on issues including plans for telecommuting, stockpiling equipment and anti-virus medication, and other continuity measures. Most importantly, exercise results demonstrate that while there may be significant impacts to the financial services sector during a pandemic outbreak, the sector overall will continue to operate and cope with these impacts.

The exercise, conducted in September-October 2007, was the largest pandemic exercise ever held for financial services industry. The exercise highlighted the need for organizations to include pandemic-specific focus in their overall business continuity planning efforts. The exercise simulated absentee rates at up to 49 percent across the country. Critical infrastructures that the sector relies on were also stressed resulting in notable service degradation.

The report can be found here.

US Department of Homeland Security Releases National Response Framework

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published the National Response Framework (NRF), which will supersede the National Response Plan (NRP). The framework focuses on the national response to and short-term recovery from all-hazard disasters across all levels of government as well as private sector and non-governmental organizations.
The NRF is based on the NRP, retains much of its content, and continues to build on the principles of NIMS.

The Response Framework is available here.

Federal Guidance To Assist States In Improving State-Level Pandemic Influenza Operating Plans

In March 2008, the US government has released a document to help the US States to improve and maintain their operating plans for responding to and sustaining functionality during an influenza pandemic.

The document is available here.

Events

2nd Pandemic Influenza and Workplace Infectious Diseases Summit

12 & 13 May 2008, Canberra
Topics

• Workplace infectious diseases - Influenza, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, mosquito borne viruses, head lice
• Prevalence and costs to organisations of workplace infectious diseasesThe key preventions and preparations measures
• Drawing lessons for the future from last year’s outbreaks - Equine influenza and seasonal influenza outbreak
• The obligations for employers and employees - Views of unions and regulators
• Pandemic preparation work for critical infrastructure
• Lessons from recent Australian pandemic exercises
• The potential for the mutation of H5N1 and other research developments
• The issues that could derail pandemic and infectious disease plans
• Developments in national pandemic planning

Four workshops

• Practical issues in pandemic planning
• Testing your pandemic plan
• Getting change across a sector
• Compensation for cooperation and compliance with pandemic plans

For more information visit www.pandemic.net.au

2nd Australasian Pandemic Influenza History Symposium

14 May 2008, Australian National University
Keynotes

• Black November: The 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand by Professor Geoffrey W. Rice, Head of School, School of History, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

• Influenza and pneumonia mortality in the Australian Army of the First World War (1914-19), and examining the lessons which can be learned for future influenza pandemics, by Professor G. Dennis Shanks, Director, Australian Army Malaria Institute
• Influenza Pandemic of 1889 - 1891 in Australia, by Dr Keith Horsley, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

For more information visit www.pandemic.net.au

Ensuring your organisation and staff are prepared for a pandemic influenza outbeak. For more information and/or a demonstration on this online training course please contact Keanne Stephenson on 0412 472 766 or email keanne.stephenson@pandemic.net.au
Download the brochure here.