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Regional meetings set to discuss potential bird flu pandemic Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A series of community meetings to discuss preparedness for a potential outbreak of bird flu are scheduled for later this month and in May, state health officials said Monday. The first meeting is to be held April 21 in Jonesboro. Other meetings are scheduled for April 28 in Fayetteville, May 4 in Little Rock, May 5 in Texarkana and May 19 in Monticello. "Right now, we have a highly pathogenic avian influenza that appears to be spreading around the world with birds and there are occasional human cases," said Dr. Nate Smith, medical director of infectious disease at the state Department of Health and Human Services. "The concern is that it could become a pandemic flu, something that has been passed from person to person," Smith said. "This is a particularly good time to get our ducks in a row ... because the concern is that if this virus were to adapt in some way, it would be able to spread among humans as it spreads with birds." Ann Wright, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Health, said the meetings will include presentations to local officials on how to implement city and county plans on combat a pandemic. The daylong meetings will include presentations from the state Department of Emergency Management and breakout sessions for the various groups attending the conference, including hospital personnel, firefighters and police officers. "This is the process of planning that reaches to the local level," Wright said. "It will engage all stakeholders so they will know their role and they can begin planning." In March, representatives of state, county and local governments met in Little Rock to discuss how communities in the state are planning. The meeting also included a progress report on the state's plan. In January, Gov. Mike Huckabee announced the formation of a plan for a potential flu outbreak. Wright also said the state is now acquiring drugs from the federal government to treat Arkansans if there is an outbreak of the flu virus. She said the state plans to stockpile 687,047 courses of anti-viral treatments. About 400,650 are being allotted to the state by the federal government, while the state Legislature this month appropriated $6 million to purchase an additional 286,397 courses of the drug. "We don't want to wait until we see the first cases of pandemic influenza arriving here in our state to ready ourselves," Wright said. "The time to develop a response capability is now, before people begin getting sick." For more information on the possible pandemic and what people can do, Wright suggested people visit the Web site www:pandemicflu.gov. |
