Here’s a link to a news article.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-03-flu-plan_x.htm
The Federal Plan seem to be summarized as “Local Governments are on their own. Good Luck.”
Is this an unfair description?
Are better mechanisms in place?
Being planned?
Can FEMA respond?
What is our situation?
Can anybody provide a link to a good summary of the situation?
Nobody?
Bob?
<crickets>
Given FEMA’s response to Katrina, I’d just as soon rely on my city and county plans, thank you very much. The key Federal responsibility should be getting vaccines distributed and the maintenance of order during the almost-certain breakdown of civil order that will follow any major outbreaks. How many of us can just take two weeks off and huddle in the house without the economy collapsing?
Here is a link to the Federal website with the Federal Plan.
I suggest that the 3/16/06
from HHS PAndemic Planning Update shows that the OP is a bit misleading
This report provides status on five key planning areas: monitoring and surveillance, vaccines, antiviral medications, state and local preparedness, and communications
NOT saying WE ARE READY - just it isn’t a joke.
The federal government has in place the National Response Plan, “a comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents. The plan incorporates best practices and procedures from incident management disciplines—homeland security, emergency management, law enforcement, firefighting, public works, public health, responder and recovery worker health and safety, emergency medical services, and the private sector—and integrates them into a unified structure.”
The response to bird flu will follow the NRP.
When we had our NRP/bird flu training the answer was quite clear - be prepared to go it alone, whether you are an individual, a family, a local government, state government, etc. The federal government’s role will mutate just as bird flu will mutate.
Bottom line - Have a 14-21 day supply of food and water at home because if bird flu hits, the disaster will be nothing like you will ever see again. And if you get sick and survive 14 days, chances are you will survive it.
Don’t mean to jack the thread, but, I have a related question.
Why is this so damn scary all of a sudden? I’d never heard the phrase “bird flu” two years ago. Suddenly people all the way up to Pres. Bush are nuts about it.
Is this just the potential disaster du jour, like everyone worrying about “The Big One” hitting California back in the 80s? Or is there something going on right now that actually makes a flu epidemic more likely than before?
Much of what you are hearing really is all hype. The media needs a ratings poster child that isn’t Iraq or politics. Bird flu is it.
At the same time, the H5N1 virus is very serious issue. If it does mutate into avian flu so that it spreads from human to human and becomes a pandemic, it has the potential to change life as we know it. Only about 124 people have died from it so far, but when compared to the total who have contracted it, it has a 50 percent death rate.
In our bird flu training, the pattern for those least susceptible does not follow the traditional Bell Curve. Instead it’s a “W” curve with young kids and Baby Boomers the least susceptible. In other words, the very young, the very old and Generations X and Y are the most in danger. A worst case scenario means Baby Boomers will be raising their grand kids all alone. When pressed, we were told that Baby Boomers may have some limited immunity as a result of the 1957-58 pandemic and the 1968-69 pandemic. Those born after 1969 have no natural immunity from pandemic influenza.
The US stands to “catch” avian flu from two primary sources: (1) the annual bird migration (which we cannot control) from birds returning south from Alaska later this summer and fall, and (2) potential human-to-human transmission from international air travel. In the latter case, we were told the US receives more than 12,000 to 15,000 visitors coming in everyday on the West Coast from Asian ports of call. With a one to four day incubation factor, there is a high potential for hot spots to break out all over the country as international travelers from Asia (in particular) contract it (without symptoms for the first four days) and bring it to America.
Of course, the current H5N1 virus may not mutate sufficiently this time to cross over to humans and create the human to human transmission route. But it is only a matter of time before it eventually does, or several other bird flu viruses do mutuate and cross over.
Too early to tell, but this ain’t good.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/05/24/indonesia.birdflu/