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Avian Flu is predicted to be found in wild waterfowl in North America sometime this year. In this segment of KSMU's Sense of Community series, Michele Skalicky talks with Kevin Gipson, director of health for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department and Aaron Winslow, with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, about Avian Flu. Also, find out how Empire Bank and City Utilities are working to prepare for a possible flu pandemic.
SWANS/DUCKS
HEALTH OFFICIALS IN THE UNITED STATES ARE WATCHING CLOSELY FOR SIGNS OF BIRD FLU IN WILD WATERFOWL. TESTING IS BEING DONE IN ALASKA, AND BIRDS WILL BE TESTED HERE IN MISSOURI THIS YEAR.
IT'S ALL AN EFFORT TO STOP THE SPREAD OF AVIAN FLU SHOULD IT APPEAR IN THE UNITED STATES.
AND HEALTH OFFICIALS PREDICTED A FEW MONTHS AGO THAT THAT AVIAN FLU WOULD ARRIVE IN THE UNITED STATES SOMETIME THIS YEAR.
KEVIN GIPSON, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH FOR THE SPRINGFIELD-GREENE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT, SAYS AVIAN FLU IS EXPECTED TO BE CARRIED INTO THE U.S. BY WILD WATERFOWL.
ALL TYPE A INFLUENZA VIRUSES—THE ONES THAT HUMANS CATCH EACH YEAR DURING FLU SEASON—HAVE AN ORIGIN FROM BIRDS, ACCORDING TO GIPSON.
AVIAN FLU IS NO DIFFERENT. BUT, WHILE THERE'S BEEN SOME CROSSOVER FROM BIRDS TO HUMANS, IT'S STILL PRIMARILY A DISEASE OF BIRDS.
ONE STRAIN OF AVIAN INFLUENZA, THE H5N1 VIRUS, IS WHAT HEALTH OFFICIALS ARE WATCHING CLOSELY. IT WAS FIRST RECOGNIZED IN HUMANS IN 1997 IN HONG KONG WHEN 18 PEOPLE WERE INFECTED—SIX OF WHOM DIED.
SINCE 2003, MORE THAN 100 HUMAN H5N1 CASES HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED IN THAILAND, VIETNAM, CAMBODIA AND INDONESIA. OF THOSE CASES, MORE THAN HALF DIED AS A RESULT OF THE VIRUS. CLOSE CONTACT WITH INFECTED POULTRY HAS BEEN THE PRIMARY SOURCE THUS FAR FOR HUMAN INFECTION. THERE HAVE BEEN ISOLATED REPORTS OF HUMAN TO HUMAN TRANSMISSION OF THE VIRUS.
GIPSON SAYS THOSE WHO HAVE CONTRACTED AVIAN FLU TO DATE, LIVE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO INFECTED BIRDS.
ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, GENETIC STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THE H5N1 VIRUS MUTATES RAPIDLY. IF IT ADAPTS TO ALLOW EASY HUMAN TO HUMAN TRANSMISSION, A PANDEMIC COULD ENSUE.
KEVIN GIPSON SAYS THE ONLY TREATMENT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IS TREATMENT FOR SECONDARY INFECTIONS AND SUPPORTIVE TREATMENT SUCH AS PLACING A PATIENT ON A VENTILATOR UNTIL THEY CAN FIGHT OFF THE DISEASE. HE SAYS ONE REASON FOR THE HIGH FATALITY RATE OF BIRD FLU SO FAR IS THE LACK OF ADEQUATE HEALTH CARE IN THE REGIONS WHERE THE DISEASE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED IN HUMANS.
HE SAYS ANTIVIRAL MEDICATIONS SUCH AS TAMIFLU CAN LESSEN THE SEVERITY OF AVIAN FLU IF ADMINISTERED EARLY IN THE INFECTION.
GIPSON SAYS IT WOULD TAKE 6 TO 8 MONTHS IN THE BEST CASE SCENARIO TO DEVELOP A VACCINE FOR AVIAN FLU ONCE THE VIRUS MUTATES AND IS EASILY TRANSMITTED FROM HUMAN TO HUMAN.
IN A WIDESPREAD PANDEMIC WHERE 25 TO 35% OF THE POPULATION IS INFECTED, HE SAYS THERE WON'T BE ENOUGH ANTIVIRALS AND INITIALLY ENOUGH VACCINE TO TREAT THE POPULATION AT RISK. THAT WILL RESULT IN A LOT OF ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS.
THE SPRINGFIELD-GREENE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN WORKING SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 TO PREPARE FOR A MAJOR HEALTH EVENT—WHETHER IT BE AN ANTHRAX ATTACK OR A FLU PANDEMIC THAT WOULD STRESS THE AREA'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. HOSPITALS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE PLANNING PROCESS.
RECENTLY, THE SPRINGFIELD-GREENE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT TOOK PART IN AN EXERCISE TO SEE HOW EFFICIENTLY MEDICATION COULD BE DISTRIBUTED. THE GOAL WILL BE TO DISTRIBUTE MEDICATION WITHIN A 48-HOUR PERIOD.
THE MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES WAS RECENTLY GIVEN NEARLY 2 MILLION DOLLARS BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO DISTRIBUTE TO LOCAL HEALTH AGENCIES. AARON WINSLOW, THE DEPARTMENT'S CIEF OF THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY COORDINATION, SAYS THAT MONEY WILL HELP LOCAL HEALTH AGENCIES PREPARE FOR A FLU PANDEMIC.
THE STATE HAS BEEN WORKING THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS TO PREPARE FOR A POSSIBLE AVIAN FLU PANDEMIC. WINSLOW SAYS MDHSS OFFICIALS CONTINUE TO UPDATE AND REVISE THE EXISTING PANDEMIC PLAN AND HAVE FORMED SEVERAL COMMITTEES TO ADDRESS ALL ASPECTS OF PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS.
MDHSS HELD A STATEWIDE PANDEMIC FLU SUMMIT LAST SPRING. WINSLOW SAYS THEY'RE PREPARED FOR A FLU PANDEMIC, BUT HE SAYS YOU CAN NEVER BE PREPARED ENOUGH—IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE SEVERITY OF THE PANDEMIC.
AARON WINSLOW SAYS PAST FLU PANDEMICS—INCLUDING THOSE IN 1918, 1957 AND 1968, PROVED THAT PREPAREDNESS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES THAT OCCUR.
KEVIN GIPSON EXPLAINS WHAT WE'VE LEARNED FROM THOSE FLU PANDEMICS.
THIS AFTERNOON AT 4:35 AS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY CONTINUES, HEAR FROM BUSINESSES THAT ARE WORKING TO PREPARE FOR A FLU PANDEMIC AND HEAR MORE FROM KEVIN GIPSON, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH FOR THE SPRINGFIELD-GREENE COUNTY HEALTH. THIS PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT KSMU.ORG.
I'M MICHELE SKALICKY FOR KSMU.
