THE NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AT UMDNJ
UMDNJ - SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

NJCPHP News PHlash

FEBRUARY 11 2006 - FEBRUARY 27 2006

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Smallpox plan aims to avert terrorism- The Calgary Herald (2/12/06)
[2] Ebola vaccine passes first human safety test- AP (2/17/06)
[3] Scientists say California quake could cause Katrina II- AFP (2/19/06)
[4] White House report advises revamping disaster response- New York Times (2/23/06)
[5] Poll: Many Americans worried about bird flu- AP (2/24/06)

II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Prevent, Protect, Respond, Recover Conference (3/9/06 and 3/10/06)
[2] Hazardous Waste Handling Seminar (3/15/06)
[3] PFLASH for Public Health Professionals (3/27/06)
[4] The 11th Annual Public Health Symposium (4/3/06)
[5] New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference (5/11/06 and 5/12/06)

III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] APHIS: Safeguarding the US from highly-pathogenic avian influenza
[2] Avian Influenza Response from USAID
[3] The Nursing Center for Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases Preparedness- Online Course Offerings

I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS:

[1] Smallpox plan aims to avert terrorism- The Calgary Herald (2/12/06) The remote threat that terrorists could possess stocks of the disease has Alberta Health working with Calgary medical officials on a smallpox emergency response plan. The Calgary Health Region and other medical authorities around the province are expected by the end of March to identify response teams and complete strategies to tackle smallpox in the event the disease is ever released. "There is a concern that if it were to fall into the wrong hands, it would be possible for someone to use whatever vehicle they could to release it into the population," said Alberta Health spokesman Charlie Fleet, noting the risk is low.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=083ef745-1ef5-4bb9-8da8-f7f41dbe301f

[2] Ebola vaccine passes first human safety test- AP (2/17/06) The first vaccine designed to prevent infection with the lethal Ebola virus has passed initial safety tests in people and has shown promising signs that it may indeed protect people from contracting the disease, government scientists reported Friday. Just 21 people received the experimental vaccine in this early stage testing and much more research is necessary to prove whether the vaccine will pan out. But the results are encouraging for U.S. scientists who worry not only that the horrific virus might be used as a terrorist weapon, but also note that natural outbreaks in Africa seem to be on the rise.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11410442/

[3] Scientists say California quake could cause Katrina II- AFP (2/19/06) An earthquake or even a moderate flood could destroy the levee system protecting towns and cities along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in northern California, said Jeffrey Mount of the University of California.
"The probability of a catastrophic levee failure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the next 50 years is two in three," Mount said on the sidelines of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual conference. Mount gave a worrying presentation to the conference entitled "The Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta: the next New Orleans?" He said it could have a similar impact to the Asian tsunami in 2004.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060219/sc_afp/usclimatefloods_060219062543

[4] White House report advises revamping disaster response- New York Times(2/23/06) The Bush administration, acknowledging the multitude of Hurricane Katrina failures, advocated giving federal agencies from the Pentagon to the Department of Justice a greater role in the nation's disaster response playbook. Frances Fragos Townsend, who headed the White House study, said federal agencies must assume greater responsibility in future catastrophes. If adopted, the recommendations would reverse some of the steps taken after the September 2001 terrorist attacks to centralize responsibility for responding to natural disasters or terrorist attacks at the newly created Department of Homeland Security. And the plan could require the White House to play a larger coordinating role in future disasters.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/politics/23cnd-katrina.html?ei=5094&en=c81
b2945936e7858&hp=&ex=1140757200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1140730677
-/emY4Fl3DUgCiEIMbqApFw

[5] Poll: Many Americans worried about bird flu- AP (2/24/06) The Harvard School of Public Health telephone survey asked a series of "What if" questions of 1,043 adults. Nearly 60 percent of Americans are concerned about bird flu, but fewer than one-third think it will show up in the United States this year, according to a new poll.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11523911/

II. UPCOMING EVENTS:

[1] Prevent, Protect, Respond, Recover Conference (3/9/06 and 3/10/06) The US Army, Morris County of Health Management, NJSOPHE, Warren County Department of Health, NJ Department of Health and Senior Services, and UMDNJ/CBRNE center present this two-day conference.

[2] Hazardous Waste Handling Seminar (3/15/06) The NJDEP is hosting a free
1 day seminar on hazardous waste handling. The seminar will be held on March 15, 2006 from 8:30 to 4:00, at the State Police building in Horizon Center, Robbinsville, NJ. This seminar will cover the following topics:
RCRA Basics, Waste Determination, Manifest/Biennial Report, Transportation of Waste, Universal Waste, Used Oil, Common Enforcement Issues, How To Survive An Inspection, Web Resources. If you wish to attend this seminar, please call (609) 584-4250 for registration.

[3] PFLASH for Public Health Professionals (3/27/06) NJCPHP will sponsor the one-day training. PFLASH (Practical Front-Line Assistance for Support and Healing) will be held on Monday, March 27th, 2006 at the Bergen County EMS Training Center in Paramus, NJ. All public health professionals and first responders are invited to attend. For more information, and to register, please click here.

[4] The 11th Annual Public Health Symposium (4/3/06) The 11th Annual Public Health Symposium "Partners in Designing Healthy Communities" will be held on April 3, 2006 at 4:00pm at UMDNJ- Great Hall RWJ Medical School. For more
information, please visit www.publichealthsymposium.org.

[5] New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference (5/11/06 and 5/12/06)
The New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Association's Annual Conference provides training and coordination and promotes the development of public & private partnerships in planning, response, recovery and mitigation in all types of emergencies. It will be held at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, NJ. For more information: http://www.njepa.org/

For a complete listing of preparedness training events and educational course offerings, please visit the ASPH Centers for Public Health Preparedness Online Education Calendar at:
http://www.asph.org/acphp/educationCalendar.cfm

III. ANNOUNCEMENTS

[1] The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned, a report from the White House has been released. To download and read the report:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned.pdf

[2] APHIS: Safeguarding the US from highly-pathogenic avian influenza The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released a fact sheet on their actions, plans, and capabilities for addressing the bird flu threat.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_ahhpaiplan.html

[3] Avian Influenza Response from USAID- The US Agency of International Development has a section on their website devoted to avian influenza.
USAID is working to ensure an effective and coordinated approach to this economic and public health threat.
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/home/News/news_items/avian_influenza.html

[4] The Nursing Center for Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases Preparedness in collaboration with the Rutgers College of Nursing Center for Professional Development present online course offerings for nurses and other public health professionals. Eight different courses are being offered on topics including biological weapons, infection control, and psychosocial care. For more information, including how to register, go to http://nursing.rutgers.edu/cpd/.

For more information, or to view the NJCPHP News PHlash Archive, please visit us at: www.njcphp.org

Please send any subscription inquiries to baronre@umdnj.edu

The New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness at UMDNJ, UMDNJ-School of Public Health does not claim responsibility for accuracy of facts and information presented. All opinions expressed are those of the original authors and do not represent the views of NJCPHP staff or affiliates.
NJCPHP News PHlash, a bi-weekly news bulletin, is distributed free of charge electronically, with the intention of sharing information of interest and value to our subscribers. To unsubscribe send email to majordomo@umdnj.edu with "unsubscribe njcphp-bulletin" in the body of the message (without the quotes.)