NJCPHP News PHlash
SEPTEMBER 29 – OCTOBER 12, 2007
Don’t miss your chance! The deadline is October 19.
NJ Public Health Leadership Initiative for Emergency Response (PHLIER)
See below for details.
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APHA Learning Institute:
Developing a State-based Public Health Leadership Training Program for Emergency Response
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Washington, DC
See below for details
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AT UMDNJ- SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] FDA approves sixth flu vaccine for US market - FDA News (9/28/07)
[2] Department of Health confirms fifth human plague case in N.M. - KOAT.com (9/28/07)
[3] Disaster-readiness classes in Spanish start soon - The Seattle Times (9/30/07)
[4] Health official is promoting mutual aid pact - Telegram.com (9/28/07)
[5] Oregon County launches online emergency registry for disabled, elderly - RWJF News Digest (9/27/07)
[6] HHS awards $43.1 million to advance health facilities' preparedness efforts - AHA News Now (9/28/07)
[7] Drive-through triage to help with flu pandemic - MD Consult (10/2/07)
[8] H5N1 virus targets include organs, placenta, and fetus - CIDRAP News (10/2/07)
[9] Questions raised on terror exercise - Associated Press (10/3/07)
[10] Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form - Reuters (10/4/07)
[11] USDA: 'We can do better' on bad meat - Chicago Tribune (10/4/07)
[12] Here's a heads-up on the dirty-handed '5th guy' - USA Today (10/7/07)
[13] Indonesia reports 109th H5N1 case - CIDRAP (10/8/07 and 10/11/07)
[14] USDA: Health alert on some turkey, chicken pot pies - Reuters (10/9/07)
[15] Emergency workers set to cross-train – WashingtonPost.com (10/7/07)
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Ethics and Public Health in an Age of Terrorism – October 18, 2007
[2] Emerging and Re-emerging Microbial Threats: Challenges for the 21st Century – October 25-26, 2007
[3] Pandemic Flu Conference - October 29 – 31, 2007
[4] Developing a State-based Public Health Leadership Training Program for Emergency Response – November 3, 2007
[5] 2008 Public Health Preparedness Summit - February 19-22, 2008
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Applications now accepted: NJ Public Health Leadership Initiative for Emergency Response (PHLIER) – Deadline October 19
[2] Applications now accepted: Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI)
[3] Policy Review: Global Public Health Security
[4] Call for Papers for Public Health Reports Special Issue: Occupational Health and Safety Interventions
[5] Resource (journal abstract): Influenza vaccination of health care workers: Policies and practices of hospitals in a community setting
[6] Resource (journal abstract): Patient knowledge and attitudes about antiviral medication and vaccination for influenza in an internal medicine clinic
[7] Resource (journal abstract): Mortality benefits of influenza vaccination in elderly people: an ongoing
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] FDA approves sixth flu vaccine for US market - FDA News (9/28/07)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Afluria, an additional seasonal influenza vaccine for the immunization of people ages 18 and older. Afluria is intended to protect adults from influenza type A and type B flu viruses. The approval of Afluria, manufactured by CSL Limited in Australia, brings the number of seasonal influenza manufacturers licensed for the U.S. market to six. Afluria contains inactivated influenza viruses grown in chicken eggs. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01714.html
[2] Department of Health confirms fifth human plague case in N.M. - KOAT.com (9/28/07)
The New Mexico Department of Health has confirmed a case of bubonic plague in a 58-year-old woman from the East Mountain area. The patient is hospitalized and recovering. This is the fifth case of plague confirmed in New Mexico this year. "Our top priority is to educate the public about the best ways to prevent plague," said C. Mack Sewell, the Department of Health's state epidemiologist. http://www.koat.com/news/14229513/detail.html
[3] Disaster-readiness classes in Spanish start soon - The Seattle Times (9/30/07)
Auburn will become the first city in King County to offer community emergency-response team (CERT) classes in Spanish. The city received a $10,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security through the King County Office of Emergency Management which will cover printing of Spanish CERT materials. Instructors from Auburn Emergency Management and the Valley Regional Fire Authority teach the classes with translators. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/southeastkingcountynews/2003912735...
[4] Health official is promoting mutual aid pact - Telegram.com (9/28/07)
The Board of Health is looking to be part of something that area police and fire departments have had for years. Director of Public Health Andrew R. Pelletier is working to get nine other communities south and west of Worcester to sign a mutual aid agreement that would allow them to share resources in a health emergency when a town doesn’t have enough personnel and equipment of its own. http://www.telegram.com/article/20070928/NEWS/709280519/1153/NEWSREWIND
[5] Oregon County launches online emergency registry for disabled, elderly - RWJF News Digest (9/27/07)
Public health officials in Multnomah County, Ore., which includes the city of Portland, have launched a voluntary Web-based registry for disabled and elderly residents that emergency responders could use to guide evacuations in the event of a large-scale disaster, the Portland Oregonian reports. The registry, which residents can join via phone or the Internet, houses data on individuals' disabilities and special needs, medication regimens and emergency contacts. http://www.rwjf.org/programareas/features/digest.jsp?c=EMC-ND141&pid=114... <http://www.rwjf.org/programareas/features/digest.jsp?c=EMC-ND141&pid=1141&id=6419>
[6] HHS awards $43.1 million to advance health facilities' preparedness efforts - AHA News Now (9/28/07)
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $43.1 million in grants to 16 projects to enhance community and hospital preparedness for public health emergencies. Partners in the projects include hospitals and others. Eleven health care facility partnership projects focus on planning for a surge of patients and the regional impact during major public health emergencies; improving regional coordination through innovative approaches to training, communications and software; and exercises to evaluate community and hospital preparedness. http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANe... <http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_070928_grants&domain=AHANEWS>
[7] Drive-through triage to help with flu pandemic - MD Consult (10/2/07)
Imagine your emergency department with a third of its staff out and hundreds of people streaming through the doors each day with highly contagious influenza, for months on end. That’s the likely scenario if your institution isn’t ready when -- not if -- the next flu pandemic hits, Dr. Gregory H. Gilbert said at an emergency medicine conference sponsored by Stanford University. With many hospital workers calling in sick or afraid to show up and be exposed to infection, “just-in-time” training modules should be designed before a flu pandemic hits to help medical students, nurses, and other ancillary health care providers fill in, he said. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/news/body/79638685-2/mnfp/0/188769/1.html?n... <http://www.mdconsult.com/das/news/body/79638685-2/mnfp/0/188769/1.html?nid=188769&WT_mc_id=20071004_twim&date=week&pos=&general=true&mine=true>
[8] H5N1 virus targets include organs, placenta, and fetus - CIDRAP News (10/2/07)
A study published in The Lancet states that the H5N1 virus spreads beyond lungs. Researchers from Beijing and New York who conducted pathology studies on tissue samples of a man and a pregnant woman who died of H5N1 avian flu infection found that it spreads to other organs - even to the fetus through the placenta. Frederick Hayden, MD, an antiviral expert with the WHO, said the report is the first to contain autopsy data for a pregnant woman or her fetus, according to a Canadian Press (CP) report. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/oct0207...
[9] Questions raised on terror exercise - Associated Press (10/3/07)
The nation is preparing for its biggest terrorism exercise ever when three fictional "dirty bombs" go off and cripple transportation arteries in two major U.S. cities and Guam, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. This year's TOPOFF will build on lessons learned from previous exercises, according to the Homeland Security Department, which runs the program. The agency said the Oct. 15-19 exercise would be "the largest and most comprehensive" to date. Yet even as this drill begins, details from the previous national exercise held in 2005 have yet to be publicly released. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgWlwQU6xnhKvkzTDNTioV_ABuzAD8S1JV500
[10] Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form - Reuters (10/4/07)
The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said. The changes are worrying, said Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We have identified a specific change that could make bird flu grow in the upper respiratory tract of humans," said Kawaoka, who led the study. "The viruses that are circulating in Africa and Europe are the ones closest to becoming a human virus," Kawaoka said. He also stated "we don't know how many mutations are needed for them to become pandemic strains." http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071005/sc_nm/birdflu_mutations_dc
[11] USDA: 'We can do better' on bad meat - Chicago Tribune (10/4/07)
The top food safety official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that "we know we can do better" when requesting timely food recalls, and he vowed the department would launch a review of the nation's estimated 1,500 packing plants to determine if they have adequate safeguards to prevent E. coli bacteria from infecting meat. This came in response to questions over the USDA's nearly three-week delay in deciding to call for the large-scale recall last month of hamburger contaminated with E. coli. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-071003recall-web,1,37... <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-071003recall-web,1,3793250.story?ctrack=2&cset=true>
[12] Here's a heads-up on the dirty-handed '5th guy' - USA Today (10/7/07)
Watch out for the "5th guy." And whatever you do, don't shake his hand. The "5th guy" is the person who doesn't wash his hands after using the restroom — unlike the roughly four out of five adults who do. He's also a character introduced in a Florida Department of Health ad campaign last spring and about to arrive in other states. You can meet him (electronically, thank goodness) at www.5thguy.com <http://www.5thguy.com/> . http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2007-10-07-clean-hands_N.htm
[13] Indonesia reports 109th H5N1 case - CIDRAP (10/8/07 and 10/11/07)
A 12-year-old Indonesian boy is being treated in a Jakarta hospital for H5N1 avian influenza, marking the country's 109th human H5N1 case with 87th deaths, announced Indonesia and the World Health Organization (WHO). With the boy’s illness, the WHO's global H5N1 count has reached 331 cases with 202 deaths, for a case-fatality rate of 61%. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/oct0807... and http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/oct1107...
[14] USDA: Health alert on some turkey, chicken pot pies - Reuters (10/9/07)
Americans should refrain from eating some turkey and chicken pot pies because they may be linked to reported cases of salmonella, a food-borne illness, said the U.S. Agriculture Department. The USDA's public health alert applied to Banquet brand turkey and chicken pot pies and store-brand not-ready-to-eat pot pies with "P-9" printed on the side of the package, said USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0945305120071009
[15] Emergency workers set to cross-train – WashingtonPost.com (10/7/07)
The Washington D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services have opted to unite an internally divided workforce by making firefighting and emergency medical work the same job. All personnel who respond to 911 calls will be expected to be able to put an intravenous line in a patient as readily as they connect a fire hose to a hydrant. Also affected will be about 200 professional EMTs and paramedics, who will be encouraged for the first time to learn how to fight fires. In exchange, they will get higher salaries and increased benefits. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/06/AR200710...
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Ethics and Public Health in an Age of Terrorism
Where: Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness, Berkeley, CA
Course description: The goal of this course is to prepare caregivers and others for response to the moral dimensions of a terror event. This course will discuss the role of public health in addressing various ethical, emotional and legal dilemmas posed by planning for and responding to terrorist attack and emerging infectious diseases. For archived sessions for this course, please refer to http://www.idready.org/webcast/archive.php?id=12#EthicsandPublicHealthin...
[2] Emerging and Re-emerging Microbial Threats: Challenges for the 21st Century
Sponsored by: California Association of Communicable Disease Controllers
When: October 25-26, 2007
Where: The Doubletree Hotel Santa Ana, Santa Ana, CA
This year’s CACDC Conference – Emerging and Re-Emerging Microbial Threats: Challenges for the 21st Century, focuses on many topics ripped from the headlines. Each of the topics to be discussed has a potential to heavily impact the health of the communities thus requiring prompt public health intervention. Please visit www.idready.org/Agenda.htm <http://www.idready.org/Agenda.htm> for a detailed agenda. To register, please visit www.regonline.com/2007CACDC <http://www.regonline.com/2007CACDC> .
[3] Pandemic Flu Conference, 2nd Annual “End-to-End Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza Conference”
When: October 29 – 31, 2007
Where: Washington D.C.
For information, visit http://www.apha.org/programs/pubhealthcalendar/infocastflu1029.htm <http://www.apha.org/programs/pubhealthcalendar/infocastflu1029.htm> or call (818) 888-4444.
[4] Developing a State-based Public Health Leadership Training Program for Emergency Response
When: November 3, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET
Where: Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
This session will be provided at the APHA 135th Annual Meeting & Exposition Learning Institute. The purpose of the session is to explore strategies for developing a public health leadership program that prepares emerging local health department leaders for emergency response. Presented by the New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness at UMDNJ – SPH. For more information, visit http://apha.confex.com/apha/135am/techprogram/session_21494.htm. To register, visit http://www.apha.org/meetings.
[5] 2008 Public Health Preparedness Summit
When: February 19 – 22, 2008
Where: Atlanta, Georgia
The goal of the 2008 Public Health Preparedness Summit is to improve the ability of participants to plan, prepare, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies. Summit objectives include: 1) to describe new methods to address challenges in responding to public health emergencies, 2) to Identify sources of research, materials and resources to assist in preparedness activities and 3) to define means to improve existing preparedness programs at all levels of government. For more information, visit http://www.phprep.org/.
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Applications now accepted: NJ Public Health Leadership Initiative for Emergency Response (PHLIER) – Deadline October 19
The New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness (NJCPHP) at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health is accepting applications for its 2008 Public Health Leadership Initiative for Emergency Response (PHLIER) program that begins in November. This program is free to current public health professionals and features case-based seminars, led by expert panelists from throughout the state, on such topics as public health law, emerging pathogens, bioterrorism, and natural disasters. The application deadline for the 2008 class is October 19. More information is available on the NJCPHP website, www.njcphp.org/phlier <http://www.njcphp.org/phlier> , or by calling (732) 235-9600.
[2] Applications now accepted: Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI)
Applications will be accepted for the fourth cohort of CDC’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI) from September 1, 2007, to October 31, 2007. EPHLI application instructions and promotional materials can be downloaded from http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/ephli/application.htm. For more information about EPHLI visit http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/ephli.
[3] Policy Review: Global Public Health Security
This policy review published in the Emerging Infectious Disease journal, highlights recent revisions to the International Health Regulations (IHR (2005)). In 2005, the World Health Assembly unanimously approved IHR (2005), to establish a legally binding framework designed to build and strengthen national alert and response systems. IHR (2005) includes commitments from the World Health Organization (WHO) and each of its 193 member states, and it provides new rules for them to address national public health threats that could escalate to global emergencies. The new framework is one built on “timely notification of all events that constitute a public health emergency of international concern,” rather than the previous disease-specific approach, which only applied to cholera, plague, and yellow fever, said the authors. http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/13/10/1447.htm
[4] Call for Papers for Public Health Reports Special Issue: Occupational Health and Safety Interventions
Public Health Reports (PHR), the journal of the U.S. Public Health Service is inviting papers for a special issue on Occupational Health and Safety Interventions. The editors are looking for analytic or descriptive manuscripts, including implications for practice, policy analyses, innovative partnerships, intervention comparisons and evaluations, and training case studies that advance the applied scientific knowledge on occupational health and safety interventions. Topics of interest include: (1) target population descriptions; (2) special populations (e.g. children, non-English speaking, small businesses); (3) prevention through design; (4) integration of hierarchy of controls; (5) use of behavioral-based models; (6) application of study and intervention design models; (7) innovative outcome measures and evaluation methods; and (8) intervention dissemination. For more information, contact Robert Rinsky, Editor, PHR, at robert.rinsky@cchmc.org.
[5] Resource (journal abstract): Influenza vaccination of health care workers: Policies and practices of hospitals in a community setting
A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control finds that human interactions with employees as well as ease of vaccine access may be more successful at increasing coverage rates than mass approaches such as posters or flyers. http://www.ajicjournal.org/article/PIIS0196655307005251/abstract
[6] Resource (journal abstract): Patient knowledge and attitudes about antiviral medication and vaccination for influenza in an internal medicine clinic
Study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases Journal finds that patients are ill-informed about antiviral medication and its benefits, and medication costs may present a barrier to treatment. Researchers recommend physicians discuss antiviral medication with patients who are at high risk for complications from influenza before the influenza season, and education programs for physicians and patients to be developed. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v45n9/51042/brief/51...
[7] Resource (journal abstract): Mortality benefits of influenza vaccination in elderly people: an ongoing controversy
The effectiveness to reduce the mortality burden of influenza by targeting people aged at least 65 years for vaccination is under debate. A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases reports that, although placebo-controlled randomized trials show influenza vaccine is effective in younger adults, few trials have included elderly people, and especially those aged at least 70 years, the age-group that accounts for three-quarters of all influenza-related deaths. They state that recent excess mortality studies were unable to confirm a decline in influenza-related mortality since 1980, even as vaccination coverage increased from 15% to 65%. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473309907702360/ab...
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