Transcript In this week's chatroom, be ready to discuss disaster

Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and
Response Act of 2002
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In an effort to further enhance federal and state
efforts to prepare for and respond to the threat of
bioterrorism and other public health emergencies,
the 107th Congress enacted “The Public Health
Security and Bioterrorism Response Act of 2002”
(H.R. 3448).
Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and
Response Act of 2002
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The Act addresses national, state, and local preparedness and
response planning and security issues.
It reauthorizes or amends several important grant programs
established under the Public Health Threats and Emergencies Act
and the Public Health Service Act, and also provides significant new
grant opportunities for states and local governments.
The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and
Response Act authorizes $1.6 billion to implement state plans and
conduct additional preparedness activities, subject to congressional
appropriation.
Public Health Security and Bioterrorism
Preparedness and Response Act of 2002
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The Act also addresses other related public health security issues.
Some of these provisions include:
 new controls on biological agents and toxins,
 additional safety and security measures affecting the nation’s
food and drug supply,
 additional safety and security measures affecting the nation’s
drinking water,
 measures affecting the Strategic National Stockpile and
development of priority countermeasures to bioterrorism
 The CDC's Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) has large
quantities of medicine and medical supplies to protect the
American public if there is a public health emergency (terrorist
attack, flu outbreak, earthquake) severe enough to cause local
supplies to run out.
Bioterrorism and Healthcare
Facilities
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Healthcare facilities may be the initial site of
recognition and response to bioterrorism events.
If a bioterrorism event is suspected, local
emergency response systems should be activated.
Notification should immediately include local
infection control personnel and the healthcare
facility administration, and prompt communication
with the local and state health departments, FBI field
office, local police, CDC, and medical emergency
services.
Suspicious Packages
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Guidance on Initial Responses to a Suspicious Letter /
Container With a Potential Biological Threat
 The FBI – DHS – HHS/CDC have developed
guidelines as recommendations for local responders,
based on existing procedures (including
recommendations from the International Association
of Fire Chiefs).
 The document provides guidance on the initial
response to a suspicious letter/container and other
follow-up response plans.
Suspicious Package Poster
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Spearheaded by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service
and Department of Homeland Security, this effort to
deliver a single message from the agencies most
responsible for handling a wide range of security
issues was joined by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives.
The new version of Poster 84 illustrates common
characteristics of a suspicious mail piece and
recommends actions to take in the event such a mail
piece is identified.
Mail Processing Safety
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The United States Postal Inspection Service
has developed guidelines for mail processing
centers with their Mail Center Security.
Pandemics
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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak.
A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza
virus emerges for which people have little or
no immunity, and for which there is no
vaccine.
The disease spreads easily person-toperson, causes serious illness, and can
sweep across the country and around the
world in a very short time.
Pandemics
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Pandemics originating from new strains of
virus occur with some regularity (roughly every
30 to 40 years).
Pandemics are of concern because of the
potential for millions of deaths. In perhaps the
worst case of an influenza A pandemic, that of
1918 - 1919, some 30 million people died
worldwide.
Black Death
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In the 1300’s Black Death spread throughout Europe and was responsible
for the deaths of one quarter of the population of Europe.
The disease is believed to have started in China earlier in the century and
the Chinese are thought to have used infected bodies to contaminate their
enemies.
This helped the disease to spread as did ships that are thought to have
carried the disease to Europe and the Mediterranean.
Black death was spread by fleas that were carried by rats and other
rodents.
Because towns were overcrowded and unsanitary at the time, there was
little to prevent the disease from spreading.
From 1349-1350, between 20 and 40 percent of the English population
died.
Spanish Flu
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(1918-1919) The Spanish Flu Pandemic Influenza is
hailed as being possibly the worst influenza pandemic to
date.
The Spanish Flu killed more people in a single year than
the Black Death caused in Europe over 4 years.
The source of Spanish Flu was not widely known, but its
effects were swift and often fatal.
Shipping and trade helped spread the disease which
occurred during the last year of World War I.
Spanish Flu
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Up to one quarter of America was affected,
and one fifth of the worldwide population.
No one knows exactly how many people died
during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.
During the 1920s, researchers estimated that
21.5 million people died as a result of the
1918-1919 pandemic.
Asian Flu
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Early in 1957 an Asian Influenza virus was
discovered.
While infections spread easily amongst
younger people, the highest death rate from
the Asian Influenza was in elderly people.
The Asian flu spread to the United States by
June 1957 where it caused about 70,000
deaths.
Hong Kong Flu
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(1968-1972) The Hong Kong flu was
responsible for a significant number of
deaths, however, the flu was often treatable
and controllable with antibiotics.
In early 1968 it spread to the United States
later that year. where it caused about 34,000
deaths.
SARS
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(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
In 2003 Hong Kong came under siege from
the SARS virus.
SARS originated in mainland China and was
spread to other countries through
international travel.
In all, SARS caused more than 800 deaths,
but there have been no reported cases in
recent times.
Influenza Pandemics
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A pandemic, or worldwide outbreak of a new
influenza virus, could dwarf this impact by
overwhelming our health and medical
capabilities, potentially resulting in hundreds of
thousands of deaths, millions of
hospitalizations, and hundreds of billions of
dollars in direct and indirect costs.
Influenza Pandemics
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Despite annual vaccinations, the U.S. faces a
burden of influenza that results in
approximately 36,000 deaths and more than
200,000 hospitalizations each year. In addition
to this human toll, influenza is annually
responsible for a total cost of over $10 billion in
the U.S.
Avian Flu (Bird Flu)(H5N1,
H7N9)
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Avian Influenza is a flu type virus that has
been around for the last 100 years.
While the disease is found world wide, until
recent times, the virus only affected birds, but
the virus has been passed on to humans
from infected birds.
The people who have been affected by the
virus are mostly those who have handled the
infected birds. The mortality rate is around
50% for humans infected with the virus.
Avian Flu (Bird Flu)
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Avian influenza is usually an unapparent or
nonclinical viral infection of wild birds that is
caused by a group of viruses known as type
A influenzas.
These viruses are maintained in wild birds by
fecal-oral routes of transmission. This virus
changes rapidly in nature by mixing of its
genetic components to form slightly different
virus subtypes.
Avian Flu (Bird Flu)
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Information on Avian Flu and how it spreads
can be found on the www.flu.gov website.
Worldwide, there are many strains of avian
influenza (AI) virus that can cause varying
amounts of clinical illness in poultry.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is
an extremely infectious and fatal form of the
disease that, once established, can spread
rapidly from flock to flock.
Avian Flu (Bird Flu)
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In some instances, strains of HPAI viruses
can be infectious to people. Since mid–
December 2003, a growing number of Asian
countries have reported outbreaks of HPAI in
chickens and ducks.
The rapid spread of HPAI, with outbreaks
occurring at the same time, is historically
unprecedented and of growing
concern for human health as well as for
animal health.
Avian Flu (Bird Flu)
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Of great concern to the World Health
Organization (WHO) is the possibility that the
present situation, if the virus acquires human
influenza genes, can give rise to human–to–
human transmission and possibly another
influenza pandemic in people.
H5N1 Avian Flu
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Highly pathogenic H5N1 is one of the few avian influenza viruses
to have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, and it is the
most deadly of those that have crossed the barrier.
Currently, the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus is
considered to have the greatest potential for mutation to a
pandemic virus given how widespread the virus is and because it
has already caused illness and death in people.
The virus has spread rapidly in bird populations throughout Asia,
Europe, and Africa.
Swine Flu (H1N1)
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The H1N1 flu virus caused a world-wide pandemic in 2009.
The number of people who died after contracting the H1NI virus in
2009 could be at least 15 times higher than previously reported.
New research shows the death toll could actually be as high as 150,
000 to 575, 000 compared to the previously reported total of more
than 18,000.
More than half of the deaths occurred in southeast Asia and Africa
and most of those who died were people younger than 65 years old.
It is now a human seasonal flu virus that also circulates in pigs
The H1N1 flu virus spreads between people in the same way that
seasonal flu viruses spread.
The best way to prevent the H1N1 flu is to get the seasonal flu
vaccine.
Pandemic Preparedness
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National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza
The National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza , issued by
President Bush November 1, 2005, guides our nation's
preparedness and response to an influenza pandemic, with the
intent of:
(1) stopping, slowing or otherwise limiting the spread of a pandemic
to the United States;
(2) limiting the domestic spread of a pandemic, and mitigating
disease, suffering and death; and
(3) sustaining infrastructure and mitigating impact to the economy
and the functioning of society.
(4) The Strategy charges the U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services with leading the federal pandemic preparedness.
Business Planning for Pandemic Influenza
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In the event of pandemic influenza, businesses will play a key
role in protecting employees' health and safety as well as limiting
the negative impact to the economy and society.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have
developed planning tools for businesses.
These tools identify important, specific activities businesses,
hospitals and governments can do now to prepare for pandemic
emergencies.
Pandemic Influenza
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The United States government maintains a
one-stop web site for access to U.S.
Government avian and pandemic flu
information.
Managed by the Department of Health and
Human Services.
Pandemic Influenza
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Information on planning and response to
influenza pandemics can be found at
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/index.html.
Planning tools for all levels are available on
this web site.
OSHA’s Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for
an Influenza Pandemic. OSHA 3327-02N 2007
Pandemic Influenza
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There are a series of checklists and planning
tools for the workplace available on the
www.flu.gov website.