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Pennsylvania is Prepared to Protect Residents From Avian Flu or Any Widespread Disease Outbreak That Might Hit the State

Posted on: Friday, 18 November 2005, 12:00 CST

HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- At the direction of Governor Edward G. Rendell, Pennsylvania has taken steps to protect the health and safety of the commonwealth in the event of an avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak, including the development of a response plan that is being made available to the public, state Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson and state Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said today.

"Governor Rendell directed us to work across agencies, with community partners, to step up our efforts to make sure that Pennsylvania is prepared to deal with avian flu or any type of disease outbreak," Dr. Johnson said.

"There have been no human cases of avian flu in Pennsylvania, or the rest of the United States," Dr. Johnson said. "While avian flu poses no immediate threat to the commonwealth, we are ready to respond if it does. Rather than dealing with a severe disease outbreak - often called a pandemic - as it occurs, we are putting measures in place to safeguard the health of our citizens beforehand."

Measures that have been put in place include: -- Surveillance and detection systems, both animal and human - The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has what is regarded by most as one of the most comprehensive avian flu plans in the country. Likewise, Pennsylvania has one of the best human disease surveillance systems in the nation, including receiving real-time reports from hospitals, public health departments, physicians and pharmacies on possible disease outbreaks. -- A plan for dealing with an outbreak if one would occur - The Department of Health has worked with hospitals, EMS providers and other health care organizations on the county, regional and state level to develop a plan - the draft is available at http://www.health.state.pa.us/. Much of the planning includes working with hospitals to identify their ability to deal with surge capacity, alternative medical treatment sites and points of distribution for vaccines and antiviral mediations. -- World-class laboratories, both animal and human, to test specimens - Pennsylvania has its own labs to conduct influenza testing and identification. By knowing what strains of influenza are in Pennsylvania, both Agriculture and Health are better able to understand what is happening and inform the citizens of Pennsylvania what they can do to help reduce their risk.

In order to become a pandemic, a virus would have to be easily transmitted from human-to-human on a widespread regional or global basis. While people in Southeast Asia have contracted H5N1 avian flu, it has not spread easily from human-to-human.

"If H5N1 were to come to Pennsylvania and spread among our citizens, we would be able to respond quickly and in an orderly fashion, to treat the most people possible," Dr. Johnson said.

Dr. Johnson emphasized that if the H5N1 avian flu were to spread, it would be a global concern and Pennsylvania would be working with public health partners from around the world to deal with the outbreak. At this time, there is no vaccine against this virus.

In addition to monitoring the potential human transmission of the avian flu, steps have been taken to monitor the state's bird population.

"For 20 years, Pennsylvania has had an aggressive avian influenza surveillance program, leading the nation with more than 240,000 samples each year," Sec. Wolff said. "Pennsylvania has not detected any reportable strain of the avian influenza virus for more than three years."

The state's public health emergency response during pandemic influenza is based on the six response phases of a pandemic as outlined by the World Health Organization. It addresses what the state will do in those phases regarding surveillance, emergency response, distribution of vaccines and/or antivirals and communication.

The Department of Health has created an avian/pandemic information Web page available at http://www.health.state.pa.us/, where Pennsylvanians can get the latest information on pandemic preparations. This page also contains a current draft of the Influenza Pandemic Response Plan, and provides links to other websites such as http://www.pandemicflu.gov/ and http://www.cdc.gov/. The Response Plan is constantly being updated as Health works with the CDC and local partners and learns more about the H5N1 virus. For additional information about avian/pandemic influenza, call the Department of Health at 1-877-PA HEALTH. For information on the state Department of Agriculture's avian influenza surveillance program visit http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/.

CONTACT: Richard McGarvey, Pennsylvania Department of Health, +1-717-787-1783; or Stephanie Meyers, Agriculture, +1-717-787-5085.

Agriculture

Pennsylvania Department of Health; Pennsylvania Department of

CONTACT: Richard McGarvey, Pennsylvania Department of Health,+1-717-787-1783; or Stephanie Meyers, Agriculture, +1-717-787-5085

Web site: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/

Web site: http://www.state.pa.us/http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/http://www.health.state.pa.us/

Source: PRNewswire

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