California officials have released a draft plan for responding
to a flu pandemic that calls for stockpiling vaccines, establishing
quarantine areas and planning for the disposal of bodies.
By Associated Press
Sacramento – California officials have released a draft plan for responding to a flu pandemic that calls for stockpiling vaccines, establishing quarantine areas and planning for the disposal of bodies.
The plan does not detail actions to be taken during an outbreak because an actual pandemic flu strain has not been identified.
It parallels a federal plan released last fall and is partly a response to concern over avian influenza, a virus that appears to be transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected birds.
The World Health Organization has counted 148 human cases of the bird flu and 79 deaths since 2003. The cases have been isolated to Asia and Turkey, with no evidence that the virus has reached North America.
In releasing the plan Wednesday, California Health Services Director Sandra Shewry called a possible influenza pandemic “the greatest public health challenge of our time.” As many as one in three Californians could become ill, she said.
The state’s plan recommends establishing a surveillance system to detect the virus and control the disease once it infects humans or animals. Quarantines could be placed on anyone who had contact with an infected individual, schools could be closed and access to public areas could restricted.
Officials also recommend stockpiling the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. The state health department has ordered 70,000 doses of Tamiflu this year at a cost of $500,000. It hopes to receive $1.5 million in the next fiscal year for 200,000 more doses, Shewry said.
The draft plan also discusses the need for “mass body storage” and whether cremation of those who die in a pandemic might be a better option than burial.
