NJCPHP News PHlash
JUNE 11 - 25, 2010
THE NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AT UMDNJ- SCHOOL OF
PUBLIC HEALTH
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Swine flu shot protects against 1918 flu: study- Reuters (6/16/10)
[2] Chinese researchers give details on swine-pandemic flu hybrid- CIDRAP
(6/17/10)
[3] Lyme disease on the rise in New York as 20% more cases reported: Dept.
of Health- New York Daily News (6/18/10)
[4] Health officials warn of rising number of whooping cough cases- Lake
County News (6/23/10)
[5] North Carolina preps bioterror early warning system- BioPrepWatch
(6/23/10)
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Vaccine Preventable Diseases: Facts Of Vaccine Science, Safety and
Surveillance (7/26/10)
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] ³Population Behaviors in Dirty Bomb Attack Scenarios: A Survey of the
National Capital Region"
[2] Graduate Certificate in Transportation Management: Vulnerability, Risk
and Security
[3] Workgroups Develop Draft Competencies in Public Health Preparedness and
Response
[4] Accessible Emergency Information
[5] Assessing Medical Preparedness to Respond to a Terrorist Nuclear Event:
Workshop Report
[6] Essential Elements of Respiratory Protection
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Swine flu shot protects against 1918 flu: study- Reuters (6/16/10)
Tests on mice showed the vaccine for the still-circulating strain of H1N1
protected against the older virus, a distant cousin also called H1N1, the
research team at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York said. No one
fears the 1918 flu will come back naturally but there are worries that
someone might try to resurrect or recreate it for a biological attack. The
study, published in Nature Communications, also shows the vaccine has
cross-protection against related flu strains. The old virus was
reconstructed by scientists using samples dug up from the frozen bodies of
victims in Alaska and using genetic sequences from preserved samples. "While
the reconstruction of the formerly extinct Spanish influenza virus was
important in helping study other pandemic viruses, it raised some concerns
about an accidental lab release or its use as a bioterrorist agent," said
Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, who led the study. "Our research shows that the 2009
H1N1 influenza vaccine protects against the Spanish influenza virus, an
important breakthrough in preventing another devastating pandemic like
1918."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65E65S20100616
[2] Chinese researchers give details on swine-pandemic flu hybrid- CIDRAP
(6/17/10)
Adding more details about a finding announced in February, Chinese
researchers said that a hybrid virus found in Hong Kong pigs contains
elements of the 2009 human pandemic flu virus and two swine flu strains,
pointing up a need for better surveillance of flu viruses in pigs. In an
article in Science, the researchers said the findings show that the pandemic
virus, which originated in pigs, is capable of going back into pigs and
trading genes with other flu viruses, raising the risk of generating more
virulent strains. Pigs have long been regarded as mixing vessels for flu
viruses, because they can be infected with human and avian as well as swine
strains. "The 2009 pandemic [virus], although mild and apparently contained
at present, could undergo further reassortment in swine and gain virulence,"
says the report by researchers from Hong Kong University and Shantou
University Medical College in China. The virus was found in early January in
the course of routine surveillance of pigs at a Hong Kong slaughterhouse,
according to the report. The scientists said pigs that were experimentally
infected with the reassortant virus became mildly ill and spread the virus
to other pigs.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/jun1710...
e.html
[3] Lyme disease on the rise in New York as 20% more cases reported: Dept.
of Health- New York Daily News (6/18/10)
There was a nearly 20% increase in the number of New Yorkers who developed
Lyme disease last year, the city Health Department reported. The agency
blamed tick bites that residents received while in neighboring Connecticut,
New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester County for the boost. Officials are
urging folks who are heading to the wilds of suburbia to use bug spray to
keep ticks away. They also recommend wearing long sleeves and socks. The
city counted 643 cases of Lyme disease, up significantly from the 224 New
Yorkers who contracted the disease in 2003. Better reporting, officials
said, is driving the spike.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/18/2010-06-18_uptick_in_case...
_lyme_disease.html
[4] Health officials warn of rising number of whooping cough cases- Lake
County News (6/23/10)
Health officials locally and across the state of California are warning of
an increase in whooping cough, with this year seeing a peak in cases. An
infection that's also known as pertussis, the most severe form of whooping
cough typically affects young infants, although all age groups can contract
it.
Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait said no pertussis cases have been
reported in the county, but she's nonetheless urging people to be
vaccinated. Mendocino County health officials also reported no cases of the
infection so far in their area. The California Department of Public Health
reported that pertussis case numbers tend to peak every two to three years,
with the greatest number occurring between August and September. The last
peak was in 2005. Over the past decade, the disease has led to the deaths of
between three and four infants under the age of 3 months in California each
year, the state reported. The babies likeliest to die from pertussis are
those who have not had any immunizations and whose airways are not fully
developed. So far this year there has been a four-fold increase in pertussis
cases as compared to the same time in 2009, Tait said.
http://lakeconews.com/content/view/14633/919/
[5] North Carolina preps bioterror early warning system- BioPrepWatch
(6/23/10)
North Carolina has announced that it will implement an early-warning system
to detect bioterrorist attacks. The system, called the North Carolina
Bio-Preparedness Collaborative, will serve as a national model,
uncnews.unc.edu reports. It will be designed to provide timely warnings in
cases of bioterrorist attacks, food-borne illnesses or other threats to
public safety. Representative David Price, chairman of the House Homeland
Security Appropriations Subcommittee, was instrumental in securing the
one-year, $5 million grant to fund the effort. ³The goal of this
groundbreaking effort is to save lives in the event of a major biological
event, whether naturally occurring or manmade to provide reliable early
detection of an event and to inform a successful response by our public
health system,² Price told uncnews.unc.edu. The NCB-Prepared program will
utilize an array of health data, including electronic hospital records and
prescription databases, to detect threats to public safety faster than
traditional disease surveillance systems would.
http://www.bioprepwatch.com/news/213488-north-carolina-preps-bioterror-e...
-warning-system
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Vaccine Preventable Diseases: Facts Of Vaccine Science, Safety and
Surveillance
When: July 26, 2010
Where: Montclair University, Montclair, NJ, Monmouth University, West
Long Branch, NJ, Cumberland County College, Vineland, NJ
This one-day conference will be held simultaneously at three
locations in NJ (Montclair State University, Monmouth University and
Cumberland County College). The conference will focus on issues related to
immunizations in New Jersey. Specific presentations will focus on the
evidence behind increasing immunization requirements, consequences of
specific vaccine-preventable diseases without vaccination, H1N1 lessons
learned and the benefits of the New Jersey Immunization Registry.
Registration is NOW available at the New Jersey Learning Management
Network: https://njlmn.rutgers.edu
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] ³Population Behaviors in Dirty Bomb Attack Scenarios: A Survey of the
National Capital Region"
The survey ³Population Behaviors in Dirty Bomb Attack Scenarios: A Survey of
the National Capital Region,² was commissioned by the Virginia Department of
Emergency Management from the University of Virginia Center for Survey
Research and the Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems. The
survey explored how people get their information in an emergency,
information sources residents trust, the amount of advance preparation
people have completed, and the actions they would take under increasing
levels of personal threat. Most people surveyed would follow instructions to
stay where they are after a radiological dispersion device, or ³dirty bomb,²
attack. The survey also indicated that if an evacuation were ordered, most
people would stay close to the region and not travel far. The survey and
results are available at
http://www.vaemergency.com/library/behavior_study/index.cfm.
[2] Graduate Certificate in Transportation Management: Vulnerability, Risk
and Security
The E. J Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University is now offering a Graduate Certificate in Transportation
Management: Vulnerability, Risk and Security. The Graduate Certificate
capitalizes on the strong academic foundation Rutgers offers in planning,
engineering, environmental science, social science and public health.
Designed to provide a multi-faceted foundation for future transportation and
management professionals, the program is administered by the Edward J.
Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in cooperation with The
School of Engineering, the Graduate School New Brunswick, The University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and the School of Environmental
and Biological Sciences. The certificate is open to matriculated graduate
students in any discipline. Students will be enrolled at the master's level
and receive the TRVS Certificate signifying completion of the program at
graduation. Under certain circumstances, advanced undergraduate students and
doctoral students may be admitted to the certificate program. For more
information, please visit:
http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/ctssr/projects/ts.php
[3] Workgroups Develop Draft Competencies in Public Health Preparedness and
Response
Subject matter experts have developed draft competencies for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded Public Health Preparedness and
Response Competency Development Project.
http://www.asph.org/document.cfm?page=1081
[4] Accessible Emergency Information
A new website from the Northeast Texas Public Health District, is a
compilation of 18 Emergency Preparedness Topics. These topics and
information are formatted to be friendly to deaf, blind, and limited sight
populations. The information is in video and downloadable document format
for public use. There is No Charge for use of the materials posted on this
website. For more information, please visit:
http://www.accessibleemergencyinfo.com/
[5] Assessing Medical Preparedness to Respond to a Terrorist Nuclear Event:
Workshop Report
The United States has been struggling for some time to address and plan for
the threat of nuclear terrorism and other weapons of mass destruction that
terrorists might obtain and use. The Department of Homeland Security
recently contracted with the Institute of Medicine to hold a workshop,
summarized in this volume, to assess medical preparedness for a nuclear
detonation of up to 10 kilotons. This book provides a candid and sobering
look at our current state of preparedness for an IND, and identifies several
key areas in which we might begin to focus our national efforts in a way
that will improve the overall level of preparedness. It can be read on-line
at:
http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12578
[6] Essential Elements of Respiratory Protection
Essential Elements of Respiratory Protection, a short guidebook listing 19
essential elements of respiratory protection for workers potentially exposed
to deleterious agents, such as hazardous wastes or agents of mass
destruction is available in print and PDF format. Learning objectives
include: Articulate the essential elements of an effective respiratory
program; identify and comprehend the basic personal respirators functional
categories; apply the essential elements to develop, implement or evaluate a
respiratory protection program; and recognize critical administrative,
medical, environmental, technical and regulatory requirements. The guidebook
presents the information in a graphical format which makes presentation and
absorption of material quicker and easier. We are pleased to provide a
complimentary copy of the booklet upon request (or use the order form on the
website.) An electronic PDF copy of the booklet be accessed at:
http://www.njcphp.org/index.php?q=njcphp_products
Email requests to: mailto:walkerpa@umdnj.edu
______________
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