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

NJCPHP News PHlash

MARCH 25 2006 - APRIL 7 2006

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

I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Experts: Bioterrorism should worry Asia- CBS News (3/25/06)
[2] St. Louis will be part of bioterrorism study- St. Louis Post-Dispatch (3/29/06)
[3] Bomb drill tests disaster response- Queens Tribune (3/30/06)
[4] In bird flu vaccine hunt, 1976 tragedy looms- ABC News (4/1/06)
[5] Officials plan disaster response- Contra Costa Times (4/3/06)

II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Public Health & Mental Health Response: Psychological First Aid (4/27/06)
[2] New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference (5/11/06 and 5/12/06)

III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Governor Corzine names Director of Homeland Security and Preparedness
[2] Pandemic Flu Planning Assignment
[3] APHIS: Safeguarding the US from highly-pathogenic avian influenza
[4] Avian Influenza Response from USAID
[5] The Nursing Center for Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases Preparedness- Online Course Offerings

I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS:
[1] Experts: Bioterrorism should worry Asia- CBS News (3/25/06) Experts warn that South East Asia's vulnerability to infectious disease could prove devastating in the event of a bioterror attack. Some of the region's Islamic militants are believed to be interested in acquiring disease-causing agents or toxins, and any nation allied with the United States is said to be a potential target. Interpol is hosting a workshop on the threat of bioterrorism in Singapore next week with police and government officials from 37 countries around Asia. The delegates will discuss lab security, forensic work and laws to prevent bioterrorism, as well as how to respond to a simulated bioterrorist attack.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/25/ap/world/mainD8GIH3I80.shtml

[2] St. Louis will be part of bioterrorism study- St. Louis Post-Dispatch (3/29/06)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to place antibiotics in 5,000 homes in the St. Louis area in a first-of-its kind test to learn how people would handle drugs given them to prepare for a bioterrorism attack. Starting next month, some 20,000 people will be screened to see which households receive "MedKits" that contain antibiotics for each member of the family. Households will be randomly selected from three groups: public health responders such as firefighters; workers at a single, as yet unidentified corporation; and recipients of publicly funded health care at clinics. The pilot project is aimed at finding the best way to distribute drugs in case of emergencies and whether people would store the drugs properly and save them for when they are needed.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/98AE8FDF81880
816862571400058AC28?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22Centers%22+AND+%22for%22+AND+%22disease%22+AND+%22control%22

[3] Bomb drill tests disaster response- Queens Tribune (3/30/06) The neighborhood of Maspeth, Queens was the site of a daylong terror drill, Operation Trifecta, on March 26, 2006 testing New York City¹s emergency services. The situation was a bomb blew up on the Conrail tracks, leveling a Long Island Rail Road train and killing or injuring more than 100 people.
The drill tested the NYPD, FDNY and more than 20 other local, state and federal agencies on their response to the chemical explosion. 1,500 response workers took part in the drill, which cost approximately $700,000 on a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.queenstribune.com/news/1143746792.html

[4] In bird flu vaccine hunt, 1976 tragedy looms- ABC News (4/1/06) Infectious disease specialists at Rochester University Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y., are working toward an effective bird flu vaccine, but want to avoid the harm of the swine flu shots. They have been working for nearly nine years conducting tests as part of a broad national effort to develop a bird flu vaccine. Beginning in late 1997, the human trials have tested 30 different vaccines, all pegged to the H5N1 virus. Researchers are trying to duplicate what happened in 1976, when there was fear of a pandemic swine flu. A national campaign was mounted, urging Americans to get swine flu shots, which were unsafe and caused paralysis in hundreds of people.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/AvianFlu/story?id=1794656&page=2

[5] Officials plan disaster response- Contra Costa Times (4/3/06) At a recent conference among Berkeley's top officials and their counterparts at UC Berkeley, they met to plan a coordinated response to the next disaster, natural or man-made. Cisco DeVries, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bates, said one of the lessons of Katrina is that high-tech communications will be among the first things to go down, including cell phones, land lines, pagers, satellite phones and Internet connections. Berkeley has come up with a low-tech solution: ham operators and bicycle messengers. "We have a ham radio in every fire station and emergency center," said Chakos. "And we're negotiating with Critical Mass to be our bike messengers. And if we still had police on horses, we'd use them, too."
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/cctimes/news/14250941.htm

II. UPCOMING EVENTS:

[1] Public Health & Mental Health Response: Psychological First Aid (4/27/06)
NJ-PTC partner the UMDNJ School of Public Health offers this training that will focus on enhancing the knowledge of public health professionals on the psychosocial aspects of disaster response & bioterrorism. Public health professionals will learn the psychological response to critical incidents so they can diminish the risk of hysteria in the population at large. The 2-hour training will be on April 27, 2006 at the Salem County Vocational School. 2 CEs and 2 CHES credits.

[2] 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 more information and to register, visit http://ophp.umdnj.edu, and click on NJPTC under "Seminars and Events."

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] Governor Corzine names Director of Homeland Security and Preparedness
Governor Jon S. Corzine signed an Executive Order creating the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (HSP) and named Richard L. Cañas to the cabinet-level post. Cañas, who will report directly to the Governor, has a 34-year career in law enforcement and intelligence. As director, Cañas will coordinate across all levels of government and the private sector, serving as principle advisor to the Governor on homeland security issues. This strategy will allow the office to adopt an "all-hazards" approach by combining various security aspects under one structure while drawing on the existing expertise of all agencies. The office will specifically focus on emergency preparedness, training, funding and counter-terrorism.

[2] Pandemic Flu Planning Assignment
Currently University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh students enrolled in Virology are working on group assignments to develop pandemic flu plans specific to Winnebago County/the Oshkosh, Wisconsin community. This web site serves as an outreach portal for the project. The class instructor is Dr. Teri Shors. For more information: http://www.uwosh.edu/projects/fluplanning

[3] 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

[4] 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

[5] 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/ or call The Center for Professional Development at
(973)353-5895.

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