Avian Flu, BCM and the risks of a Pandemic part 3
Category Business Continuity Management Briefing BCM - BCM & Risk Management
Spring Briefing 2006
Pandemic Influenza, Avian Influenza and Business Continuity Planning ... cont'd
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Table 4 below give basic advice on self care both for the patient and the carer.
Table 4: Basic self care advice
| What should I do when I or someone in my family gets sick with the flu? |
| Know how to care for an adult or child who becomes sick with the flu |
| Stay at home when you are sick |
| Use separate personal items, such as towels and utensils, if you or family members are ill |
| Stay in touch with the local and national media as the Department of Health and others will be issuing regular bulletins and advice. |
Advice to travellers
The World Health Organization (WHO) does not at present recommend any restrictions
on travel to any country currently experiencing outbreaks of avian influenza
in poultry flocks, including countries which have also reported cases in humans.
Table 5 below gives general advice to travellers, in particular about contact
with poultry.
Table 5: Travel advice and contact with poultry
| If you are visiting countries with reported outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza among poultry, you should observe the following measures: |
| do not visit bird or poultry farms or markets |
| avoid close contact with live or dead poultry |
| do not eat raw or poorly-cooked poultry or poultry products, including blood |
| wash your hands frequently with soap and water |
| do not attempt to bring any live birds or poultry products back to the UK. |
Antiviral drugs
The UK Government is to procure 14.6 million treatment courses of the antiviral,
Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) this is enough to treat a quarter of the UK population.
The plan is to use these drugs for treatment purposes only. Thus the logistics
to put in place are to ensure anyone who is infected can be given a treatment
supply as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after symptom onset.
Vaccines
The UK's National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) is
one of several organisations worldwide participating in the development of a
vaccine to combat the H5N1 strain of the influenza virus.
Whether these will be suitable for use against a new pandemic flu strain depends
on how much the pandemic strain may have mutated and changed from the original
H5N1 virus strain used to create the vaccine.
If the virus should substantially change, it is unlikely that existing vaccines
would be effective, and a new one would have to be developed. Whilst the existence
of an H5N1 vaccine could speed up the production of an effective vaccine, work
on creating a vaccine could only begin once the new strain has been identified.
The DoH has plans in place to purchase, in advance, the capacity needed to
make pandemic flu vaccine. This should ensure that an effective vaccine is available
for use in the UK as quickly as possible after a flu pandemic starts. The UK
will need approximately 120 million doses to be available as soon as possible.
How to keep up-to-date
The following links are to websites (and website sections) that provide useful
and regularly updated information.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
Health Protection Agency (HPA)
European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
World Health Organisation (WHO)
National Travel Health Network
References and Acknowledgements:
UK Department of Health: UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan
UK Health Protection Agency (HPA)
UK Government Cabinet office Guidelines: Contingency Planning for a Possible Influenza Pandemic
USA: Centres for Disease Control CDC)
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The Continuity Forum will be hosting more of our special events and workshops focusing on the issues surrounding Avian Flu and the risks around a Pandemic to help organisations develop a sensible and appropriate response.
For more details on these activities and the general activities of the Continuity Forum please contact us directly on +44 208 993 1599 or visit or website at www.continuityforum.org.
Please do contact Sara Mckenna or Russell Price .
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For more details on our events, workshops and industry development work, as well as the general activities of the Continuity Forum please contact us directly on +44 208 993 1599 or mail us HERE!
Please do contact Sara Mckenna or Russell Price .
Creating Continuity ... Building Resilience ...
If you would like to know more about how your organisation can get involved and benefit from working with the Continuity Forum, please email us HERE! or call on + 44 (0) 208 993 1599.
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