NJCPHP News PHlash
JANUARY 23 - FEBRUARY 5, 2009
THE NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AT UMDNJ- SCHOOL OF
PUBLIC HEALTH
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Zimbabwe cholera outbreak kills more than 3,000- Reuters (1/28/09)
[2] House-passed stimulus bill includes pandemic funding- CIDRAP (1/29/09)
[3] U.S. Drug Stockpile Begins Receiving New Anthrax Treatment- Global
Security Newswire (2/2/09)
[4] Lawmakers press for food safety reforms- AP (2/4/09)
[5] First responders meet Second Life: Public health enters the virtual
world- Medill Reports (2/4/09)
[6] FEMA: storm meals may use recalled peanut butter- AP (2/5/09)
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Public Health Preparedness Summit
[2] Taking the ‘Bite’ Out of Bed Bugs: Treating and Managing Infestation in
Your Communities
[3] Program on Science and Global Security's Spring 2009 "Biosecurity,
Biotechnology, and Global Health" seminar series
[4] The 11th Annual New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference
[5] Exploring 9/11: The World Before and After
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Lessons Learned From the Field of Emergency Preparedness
[2] CDC Widgets
[3] Health Education Reaching Others and Ensuring Surge Capacity during
Public Health Emergencies (HEROEs)
[4] Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER)
[5] Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness
[6] FirstResponder.gov
[7] AHRQ Releases Hospital Surge Capacity Tool for Disaster Planning
[8] NJHA issues pandemic flu planning tool
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Zimbabwe cholera outbreak kills more than 3,000- Reuters (1/28/09)
Cholera has killed more than 3,000 Zimbabweans and infected at least 57,000,
the World Health Organization said, making it the deadliest outbreak in
Africa in 15 years. The disease has spread as rival political parties
struggle to implement a power-sharing agreement reached in September and
seen as a chance to ease the humanitarian crisis and save the faltering
economy. Fears of the cholera spreading in Zimbabwe have stepped up pressure
on rival parties to end the political uncertainty. WHO figures showed an
increase of 57 deaths and 1,579 new infections. The outbreak has hit the
entire country, leading to a high overall case fatality rate of 5.3 percent.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090128/wl_nm/us_zimbabwe_crisis
[2] House-passed stimulus bill includes pandemic funding- CIDRAP (1/29/09)
The US House of Representatives passed an $819 billion economic stimulus
bill that included funding for pandemic influenza and bioterrorism
countermeasures, and now the Senate will debate its version of the measure,
which also includes spending on some of the same items. President Barack
Obama and several Democratic legislators have hailed the public health
spending provisions as a way to create jobs and boost the productivity of
the American workforce. However, some lawmakers oppose spending provisions,
particularly those aimed at government departments. The House bill includes
$900 million for biomedical advanced research and development, pandemic flu,
and cyber security to help the nation better prevent or respond to a natural
or man-made biological threat. The House plan also includes $3 billion for
disease prevention, including funding for state and local health departments
and immunization programs, and $20 billion for health information
technology.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/jan2909st...
us-jw.html
[3] U.S. Drug Stockpile Begins Receiving New Anthrax Treatment- Global
Security Newswire (2/2/09)
Maryland-based biotechnology firm Human Genome Sciences announced that it
has started shipping 20,000 doses of a new treatment for inhaled anthrax to
the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. ABthrax is the first drug designed to
neutralize the lethal toxins released in the body by anthrax bacteria.
Antibiotics alone might not be sufficient treatment if victims do not become
aware of the infection before the toxins are already present in their
bodies, the firm said in a press release. “We believe ABthrax offers a
significant step forward in the treatment of inhalation anthrax and could
play an important role in strengthening America’s arsenal against
bioterrorism,” Human Genome Sciences chief Thomas Watkins said in the
release.
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20090202_3046.php
[4] Lawmakers press for food safety reforms- AP (2/4/09)
Lawmakers vowed to press for stronger food safety laws and more money for
inspections as the list of recalled peanut products surpassed 1,000 in an
ongoing national salmonella outbreak. "There is an openness to putting the
together the strongest legislation possible," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro,
D-Conn., who introduced a bill to reorganize federal food safety enforcement
and make it more accountable. Meanwhile, the number of recalled peanut
products approached 1,100 in what independent experts said appears to be a
record for foods consumed by humans. The 2007 recall of melamine-tainted pet
food eventually grew to 1,179 products but "this is human food," said
Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in
the Public Interest. "I'm certainly not aware of any recall where so many
individual branded products had to be called back, which makes it really
complicated for consumers."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jeLgwCG-FEEYH8KZ7Tt45z...
KgD96508JO0
[5] First responders meet Second Life: Public health enters the virtual
world- Medill Reports (2/4/09)
A virtual world has been created by experts at the University of Illinois at
Chicago School of Public Health. In it, public health workers can test their
skills in scenarios ranging from a bioterrorism attack to a smallpox
outbreak to a Katrina-type natural disaster. It’s not rocket science, but it
is one facet of technology that is slowly bringing public health into the
Web era. Its creators say it promises a seismic shift in the way officials
prepare for emergencies. “Public health has been a little bit behind the
curve up until now,” said Kevin Harvey, assistant director of development at
the Center for the Advancement of Distance Education, which developed and
maintains much of the technology at its West Side campus. “We saw a need for
public health to come up to speed with technology.” For decades, health
departments such as Chicago’s have relied on what is called “just-in-time
training” – massive real-life drills that are activated, as the name
implies, in an emergency. But these drills are expensive and their training
value is limited, especially since 2004, when stricter federal guidelines
required faster response times. For municipal health departments, that means
more workers and more training, said Suzet McKinney, acting deputy
commissioner for the city’s Office of Public Health Preparedness.
“We needed to come up with another way,” McKinney said. “That’s where
having the virtual technology comes in.”
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=114473
[6] FEMA: storm meals may use recalled peanut butter- AP (2/5/09)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says some emergency meal kits given
to storm victims in Kentucky and Arkansas may contain recalled peanut
butter. FEMA says the kits may contain packets of peanut butter that are
part of a national recall over possible salmonella contamination. The agency
said in a statement that the kits were manufactured by Red Cloud Food
Services Inc. of South Elgin, Ill., under the Standing Rock label. The
agency says people who have received meal kits should inspect them and
immediately dispose of any peanut butter packets. More than 1,000 items have
been recalled in the salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 550
people, eight of whom have died. A Blakely, Ga., peanut-processing plant is
being blamed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_re_us/salmonella_outbreak_fema
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Public Health Preparedness Summit
When: February 18-20, 2009
Where: San Diego, CA
The 2009 Public Health Preparedness Summit- The Changing Face of
Preparedness will be held February 19-20, 2009 in San Diego, CA. The Summit
will include exhibitors, plenary sessions, workshops, and discussions. The
featured speaker will be Amanda Ripley, Senior Time Magazine Writer-
Homeland Security and Risk. For more information and to register:
http://www.phprep.org/
[2] Taking the ‘Bite’ Out of Bed Bugs: Treating and Managing Infestation in
Your Communities
When: Thursday February 19, 2009
Where: The Conference Center at The NJ Hospital Association, 760
Alexander Rd, Princeton, NJ
Due to the widespread use of DDT, bed bugs have basically been eradicated
from the United States since the end of World War II. Unfortunately, in
recent years, bed bugs have begun to make their comeback and infestations
are on the rise in all housing industries regardless of socio-economic class
or hygiene. This full-day seminar is designed to offer participants both
background information and practical solutions to the treatment and
management of bed bug infestation within their communities. An application
for 5.0 CEUs has been made to the New Jersey Nursing Home Administrators
Licensing Board for: licensed nursing home administrators/certified assisted
living administrators. For registration information, please contact Amy
Greenbaum at agreenbaum@njahsa.org or Darlene Arden at 609-452-1161 or
darden@njahsa.org.
[3] Program on Science and Global Security's Spring 2009 "Biosecurity,
Biotechnology, and Global Health" seminar series
When: multiple dates
Where: Carl Icahn building Room 280, Princeton, NJ from 12:30pm to 2pm
Please mark your calendar for the upcoming Program on Science and Global
Security's Spring 2009 "Biosecurity, Biotechnology, and Global Health"
seminar series sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation. All seminars will take
place at the Carl Icahn building Room 280 from 12:30 to 2pm unless otherwise
noted. Lunch will be served.
The schedule is as follows:
Feb. 20: George Hughes, Senior Advisor, Counterterrorism and Intelligence,
FDA Office of Criminal Investigations. Title: " FDA's Office of Criminal
Investigations: Preventing Counterfeit Drugs and Corporate Espionage"
Mar 6: Margaret Race, Ph.D. , Principal Investigator, Planetary Protection
and Risk Communiation, SETI Intitute, Mountain View, CA. Title: “Biosafety,
biosecurity and biocontainment-- the rocky road ahead.”
Mar 13: Marc Ostfield, PhD., Former Senior Advisor-Bioterrorism, Biodefense,
and Health Security. U.S. Department of State, Office of International
Health and Biodefense. Title: “Bioterrorism, Counterterrorism, Science and
Foreign Policy: Challenges at the Intersection with National Security.”
Mar 27: DA Henderson, MD, MPH , Professor, Department of Medicine, School
of Medicine. Resident Scholar at the Center for Biosecurity of the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Title: “Smallpox eradication: What
it taught us or did it?”
Apr 3: Victor W. Sidel, MD, Distinguished University Professor of Social
Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine,
Bronx, New York. Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Weill Medical
College, Cornell University. Title: "The Saga of Anthrax"
Apr 17: Maureen Ellis, PhD, Senior Biosecurity Advisor, Global Partnership
Program―IGX. Foreign Affairs And International Trade, Canada. Title:
“Supporting Biosecurity in Countries of the Former Soviet Union"
May 1: Kristine Smith, DVM, Assistant Director for Field Programs Global
Health Programs ,Wildlife Conservation Society Title: “Zoonotic disease:
minimizing risk in a global society.”
May 8: Michael Oborne, PhD, Director, Multidisciplinary Issues OECD
International Futures Programme. Title: “Building international consensus
on biosecurity - the experience of the OECD".
Any questions, please contact Laura Kahn at lkahn@princeton.edu or 609 258
6763. For additional information please see the website at:
http://www.princeton.edu/~globsec/BW_series/index.html
[4] The 11th Annual New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference
When: May 4-8, 2009
Where: Tropicana Resort and Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
The 11th Annual New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference will be held
May 4-8, 2009 in Atlantic City, NJ. The conference will offer programs to
best serve the needs of New Jersey’s Emergency Managers and the private
partners in the emergency management community. The goal is to present
timely and informative, up-to-date preparedness information and training to
better prepare Emergency Managers and ultimately the public served. Cost of
the conference will be $75 until Sunday, March 15, 2009 then $100 until
Wednesday, April 29, 2009. On site registration will be $125. For more
information, visit: http://www.njepa.org/mainpages/conference.asp
[5] Exploring 9/11: The World Before and After
When: On-going
Where: National September 11 Memorial & Museum website
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum launched a new on-demand
webcast series, “Exploring 9/11: The World Before and After.” The series
examines the continuing global impact of the 9/11 attacks, presenting expert
analysis of the emergence of Al-Qaeda, the events leading up to 9/11 and the
effects of the attacks on the United States and the global community. Each
month, new interviews will be added to the series. “Exploring 9/11: The
World Before and After” can be viewed at:
http://www.national911memorial.org/new_history_exploring
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Lessons Learned From the Field of Emergency Preparedness
In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, health care facilities may
have a sudden surge of patients with diverse medical needs. This influx may
cause them to reach capacity quickly and, in some cases, deplete available
resources. In order to effectively manage mass medical care, communities
must identify additional treatment sites and allocate resources
appropriately. To support community emergency preparedness planning, the
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a range of
tools. To help communities use these tools, AHRQ hosted a Webcast entitled,
Lessons from the Field of Emergency Preparedness. This event featured
stories from three communities representing different regions with distinct
populations, geographies, and threats.
http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/fieldemprep/
[2] CDC Widgets
CDC.gov provides widgets that are online applications built by one Web site
that can be displayed onto another Web site. Adding a CDC.gov widget to your
page means that you will have up-to-date, credible health and safety content
in your favorite spaces – no more searching or browsing! Recent widgets
include information on the FDA peanut recall and flu activity.
http://www.cdc.gov/widgets/
[3] Health Education Reaching Others and Ensuring Surge Capacity during
Public Health Emergencies (HEROEs)
The Health Education Reaching Others and Ensuring Surge Capacity during
Public Health Emergencies (HEROEs) is an online module which provides an
introductory training to health educators and other individuals who might be
called upon to perform health education tasks during a public health
emergency. The training will describe the importance of health education
during a public health emergency, explain the role of health educators and
explain health education surge capacity and why it is important. The program
is provided by and in partnership with the NJCPHP at UMDNJ-SPH, NJDHSS and
NJSOPHE. Visit https://njlmn.rutgers.edu/cdr/jsp/heroes2/player.html
[4] Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER)
MCEER is a national center of excellence dedicated to the discovery and
development of new knowledge, tools and technologies that equip communities
to become more disaster resilient in the face of earthquakes and other
extreme events. MCEER accomplishes this through a system of
multidisciplinary, multi-hazard research, education and outreach
initiatives. Among other items, there is a series of reports on Hurricanes
Katrina/Rita at http://mceer.buffalo.edu/publications/Katrina/default.asp
[5] Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness
The Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness is a gateway to freely
available online resources related to public heath preparedness. Resources
include expert guidelines, factsheets, websites, research reports, articles,
and other tools aimed at the public health community. All resources are
cataloged and may be searched by keyword or browsed by topic.
http://www.phpreparedness.info/
[6] FirstResponder.gov
FirstResponder.gov, is a website created by the Department of Homeland
Security. Its mission is to provide a portal that enables Federal, State,
Local, and Tribal First Responders to easily access and leverage federal web
services, information on resources, products, standards, testing and
evaluation, and best practices, in a collaborative environment.
http://www.firstresponder.gov/
[7] AHRQ Releases Hospital Surge Capacity Tool for Disaster Planning
HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a new Web-based
interactive tool to help hospitals and emergency planners identify resource
requirements to treat an influx of patients due to major disasters such as
an influenza pandemic or a terrorist attack. The Hospital Surge Model
provides essential resource information for emergency planning strategies.
It is able to estimate, by day, the number and flow of casualties needing
medical attention for scenarios selected by users. These scenarios are
consistent with the Homeland Security Counsel’s National Planning Scenarios.
The model estimates resources for biological, chemical, nuclear or
radiological attacks.
http://hospitalsurgemodel.ahrq.gov/
[8] NJHA issues pandemic flu planning tool
The New Jersey Hospital Association has published all of the installments of
a guide hospitals can use to develop or assess a pandemic flu response plan.
The 10-module guide will address critical planning areas such as clinical
care, communication, ethics, finance, human resources, leadership,
operations and supplies. The modules can be found at:
http://www.panfluplanning.com/
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