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City Braces for Possibility of Bird Flu

Posted on: Sunday, 14 May 2006, 09:04 CDT

By Vesna Jaksic, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.

May 14--STAMFORD -- City health officials, local businesses and agencies have been preparing for several months for something they hope will never strike in Stamford: avian flu.

Preparations for any type of influenza outbreak have been part of emergency protocols for a long time, but efforts have intensified in recent months to educate the public and emergency responders about avian flu, commonly known as bird flu. A citywide group of officials has been meeting to discuss the subject for four months, and the first major public meeting on it will be held next month.

"We are constantly working on trying to make sure in the event there is pandemic influenza of whatever sort, we're as prepared as we can be," said Dr. Johnnie Lee, the city's health director. "And influenza doesn't necessarily have to be the bird flu, it can be any viral strain of influenza."

A television movie on the subject, "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America," aired Tuesday, prompting Lee to issue a statement telling people the movie is fictional. Though he has received only one e-mail inquiry since the movie aired, Lee said it is important for the public to know that avian flu does not spread from human to human, as the movie suggests.

Avian influenza is spread by birds and has many subtypes. The H5N1 virus, which has caused human illness and death in Asia, is resistant to two anti-viral medications commonly used for influenza, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worldwide, 208 human cases of avian flu have been reported, including 115 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Most of the cases have occurred in Vietnam and none has been reported in the United States, according to the organization.

The best thing people can do to prevent any type of influenza is to pay attention to their "respiratory hygiene," Lee said, meaning they should wash their hands frequently and thoroughly, cover their mouths while coughing and sneezing and take similar precautions to prevent respiratory droplets from spreading.

Public education is a big part of being prepared, and health officials already have met with groups such as the Rotary Club and several senior residences, said Anne Fountain, the city's public health emergency response coordinator. The public meeting on the topic has been scheduled for 7 p.m. June 14 at the University of Connecticut's Stamford campus, she said.

State Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robert Galvin and Dr. Michael Parry, Stamford Hospital's director of infectious diseases, are expected to attend, Fountain said.

"It's so important to educate the community so they have the right information," she said.

A group of about 15 officials, including representatives from health, police and fire departments, Stamford Hospital, Stamford Public Schools, the American Red Cross and local businesses, has been meeting since winter to form a pandemic influenza response plan, Fountain said.

Response plans would vary according to the type of emergency, but these officials have discussed protocol for informing the public, closing schools and opening immunization clinics if a vaccine were available, Lee said.

The health department has a list of several hundred medical volunteers who would help in case of a public health emergency, Fountain said.

"There is no way to know what you need to do until it happens and you see the extent of the problem," Lee said. But if there was an influenza pandemic, some common protocol would likely be put in place, including quarantines or closing schools, he said.

Since January, the Business Council of Southwestern Connecticut has been holding meetings with its members to help prepare them for an avian flu outbreak, said Tanya Court, director of public policy for the Stamford-based organization. Some businesses have put hand sanitizers in their offices and posted signs reminding people to wash their hands and cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing, Court said.

Company officials also have been discussing what they would do if a large part of the work force could not come to work; identifying critical employees for the business to keep running; and researching whether work could take place from home or another location, she said.

"Some companies just began the process, and what we want to make sure is that everybody is prepared," Court said. "The time to prepare is not during the event, it's before the event."

-- For information about avian flu, log on to the city's Web site, www.cityofstamford.org, or www.pandemicflu.gov, a site maintained by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.

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Source: The Stamford Advocate, Stamford, Conn.

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