New York unveils bird flu emergency plan

New York officials unveiled an emergency response plan to limit the
havoc a global flu pandemic might wreak on one of the world's densest,
busiest cities.
The plan, drawn up by the Department of Health with input from all the
main city agencies, covers critical health areas involved in a
pandemic, including disease monitoring, laboratory capacity, vaccine
and medicine delivery, as well as hospital preparedness.
“We have to be ready for the possibility — no matter how remote,” said
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The contingency blueprint addresses how the city would implement
infection control, address surge capacity in hospitals and enact
disease containment measures like closing schools or limiting public
gatherings.
Health Commissioner Thomas Friedman said even the best-laid plans could
not prevent the social and economic chaos a pandemic would bring, but
they could help lessen the impact.
“Without a vaccine, and with medications of limited supply and
effectiveness, traditional measures of reducing disease spread — such
as covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, or staying home from
work or school if you have fever — would be crucial,” Friedman said.
The plan envisages a worst-case scenario of widespread, serious illness
that significantly impacts all sectors of society for at least several
months.
The health care system would be overburdened and there could be
dramatic reductions in workforce availability in all sectors as
employees become ill or remain home to care for sick family members
Some of the measures included in the blueprint have been worked out
from large-scale emergency response exercises to a simulated biological
attack on the city.
The new plan is essentially a response to the spread of the deadly H5N1
bird flu virus which has been found in 60 countries in the past two and
a half years.
Although the H5N1 virus does not spread easily between people, those
who come in contact with sick birds can contract it, and scientists
fear a pandemic if it mutates into a disease transmissible between
humans.
The virus has so far infected 229 people. More than half — 131 — have
died
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