Several other bird flu articles from the Seattle paper
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310ap_bird_flu_groceries_critical_sectors.html
Sunday, February 18, 2007 · Last updated 11:17 a.m. PT
Sectors to stay open in pandemic
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The U.S. government has identified 13 sectors and four resources that must remain operational during a bird flu pandemic. They are:
Critical infrastructure
- food and agriculture
- national monuments and icons
- banking and finance
- chemical and hazardous materials
- defense industrial base
- water
- public health and health care
- energy
- emergency services
- information technology
- telecommunications
- postal and shipping
- transportation
Key resources
- government facilities
- dams
- commercial facilities
- nuclear power plants
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500ap_russia_bird_flu.html
Sunday, February 18, 2007 · Last updated 1:38 p.m. PT
Dead poultry traced to Russian market
By MIKE ECKEL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
photo
A local resident stands in front of a house, background right, where bird flu killed some domestic birds, in the village of Pavlovskoye, some 20 km (12 miles) south of Moscow, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007. Birds near Moscow were killed by avian flu and authorities are checking whether the cause of death was the H5N1 strain, which can kill people, an official said Friday. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
MOSCOW -- Russian officials traced dead poultry in several suburban Moscow districts to a single market Sunday as experts reported new outbreaks and tightened quarantines following confirmation of the presence of the H5N1 bird flu strain.
The presence of H5N1, confirmed by tests late Saturday, was the first such outbreak to be recorded so close to the Russian capital.
Authorities traced the birds that died in four separate incidences to a market located just outside the Moscow city limits, said Alexei Alexeyenko, spokesman for the federal agricultural oversight agency Rosselkhoznadzor.
The market was closed Saturday and experts were trying to determine the original source for the birds on sale there, he said.
On Saturday, Alexeyenko said tests had confirmed the H5N1 strain in some of the two dozen birds found dead in two suburban Moscow districts. Results of tests taken in a third district where nearly four dozen birds died were still pending, he said.
The Moscow region's chief veterinarian, Olga Gavrilenko, told Ekho Moskvy radio on Sunday that dead birds had also been reported in a forth district, north of the city.
Russian news agencies also reported a fifth incident of dead birds southwest of the capital, but Alexeyenko said it was too early to tell whether bird flu was to blame.
Officials said several people who were in close contact the dead poultry were taken to hospitals for observation, but no health problems had been reported.
Russian television broadcast footage showing veterinary workers clad in protective suits checking homes and spraying vehicle tires with disinfectant, while police began enforcing a quarantine in an effort to prevent the virus' spread.
Nikolai Vlasov, a senior Rosselkhoznadzor veterinary official, warned that more outbreaks were possible.
"If traces of the virus appear at the poultry market, we cannot exclude the possibility that there will be new outbreaks. But there should be no panic because conditions in Russia, especially in the winter, mean that there is not even any theoretical possibility of human infection," Vlasov said in televised comments.
No human cases of bird flu have been reported in Russia, which had its first reported cases of the H5N1 strain in birds in Siberia in 2005. Outbreaks have since occurred farther west, but mostly in southern areas distant from the capital.
Since it began ravaging Asian poultry farms in late 2003, the H5N1 strain has killed at least 167 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Though it remains difficult for humans to catch, health authorities across the globe are monitoring the H5N1 strain out of concern it could mutate into a form that easily spreads from person to person and spark a pandemic.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310ap_bird_flu_groceries.html
Sunday, February 18, 2007 · Last updated 9:07 p.m. PT
Grocery industry prepares for bird flu
By TIMBERLY ROSS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
photo
Customers wait for vendors to help them Friday, Feb. 16, 2007, at a poultry market in Bangkok, Thailand's Chinatown. Recent reports by U. N. officials are warning about possible outbreaks of bird flu during the Chinese New Year celebrations. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
OMAHA, Neb. -- Stocking up on food is as simple as a trip to the grocery store, a veritable land of plenty for Americans. But will fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, bread, milk and other household staples still be available if the U.S. is hit with an anticipated bird flu pandemic? If state and federal officials urge people to stay away from public places, like restaurants and fast-food establishments, will they be able to get the groceries they need to prepare food in their homes?
For Becky Jones of Omaha, who stocks up once a week for her family of three, the prospect of not having access to food is frightening. She said most people, herself included, only have food on hand for three or four days.
Unlike other critical infrastructure sectors like water, energy and health care, the food industry isn't getting much help from state and federal governments when it comes to disaster planning. That puts the burden on individual supermarket chains and wholesalers to deal with a potentially large number of sick workers that could affect store operations and disrupt the food supply.
"The industry is actively thinking through contingency plans, so if it should happen, our members would be well prepared to deal with it," said Tim Hammonds, president of the Food Marketing Institute, an advocate for grocery wholesalers and retail supermarkets nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates a third of the population could fall ill if the H5N1 strain of the bird flu mutates into a form that spreads easily from person to person. It's not clear if that will ever happen and no human cases of bird flu have ever been traced to eating properly cooked poultry or eggs.
But if a pandemic emerges, the Department of Homeland Security projects worker absenteeism to reach 40 percent or more over a prolonged period. Hammonds said retail food stores would have to contend with worker shortages and disruptions in the supply chain.
The food and agriculture industry is listed among 13 critical-infrastructure sectors that the Department of Homeland Security says must remain functional during a pandemic.
"Having those critical facilities open - like power, water, food - becomes very important" during a national disaster such as a pandemic, said Keith Hanson, an outreach coordinator for Nebraska's Center for Biopreparedness Education.
Hanson works with local businesses, helping test their preparedness plans. He will speak about the importance of that testing at the Public Health Preparedness Summit in Washington, an annual conference designed to help public health workers prepare for emergencies. This year's meeting started Friday and ends Feb. 23.
Hanson said continued operations of power and water utilities are of the utmost importance, but grocery stores rank highly too. That's because people today keep less food on hand, opting instead to make weekly trips to the grocery store.
Americans are also dining out more than they have in the past. Money spent on food prepared outside the home rose from 34 percent of total food costs in 1974 to about 50 percent in 2004, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Food Marketing Institute's Hammonds said a widespread pandemic will likely cause food consumption to shift away from restaurants and fast-food establishments and toward in-home eating, causing a greater demand for groceries.
"That means stores would need to be prepared for an increase in volume," he said.
Hy-Vee, a West Des Moines, Iowa-based supermarket chain that operates more than 200 stores in the Midwest, does not have a disaster plan developed in the event of avian flu. But company spokeswoman Chris Friesleben said the company keeps abreast of the illness through the Food Marketing Institute.
"The food supply is essential to the well-being of the community," said Hammonds. "We've been through a lot about what we need to do as a supermarket."
That includes urging wholesalers and retailers to talk with their suppliers about alternative sources for their products and to anticipate what products will be in high demand in a pandemic situation, such as medicines and food staples.
Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for Omaha-based ConAgra Foods Inc., said a company task force was formed more than a year ago to develop an operating plan in the event of a national disaster. The plan specifically addresses bird flu, examines areas that could be affected and how the company could respond, she said.
ConAgra is one of the nation's largest food companies, with brand names that include ACT II popcorn, Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Marie Callender's, Egg Beaters and Orville Redenbacher's.
The company employs about 27,000 people, but Homeland Security projections indicate that number could fall to 16,200 during a pandemic.
Childs said such worker shortages and difficulties with suppliers getting their products to ConAgra plants were among the potential problems the company identified. She did not disclose how the company would address those issues.
The federal government and public health agencies are urging people to stock up on nonperishable food, like canned goods and dried fruit, to ensure they have to food to eat during a pandemic.
Jones, the Omaha woman, said that's a proactive approach, but was worried that people with limited incomes may not be able to afford a large stockpile of food.
She stopped short of calling for the government to oversee the food industry's pandemic planning, but said, "If they see a crisis that is on the horizon, they do have to give us some type of warning."
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On the Net:
Food Marketing Institute:
http://www.fmi.org/foodsafety/avian-flu.htm
Center for Biopreparedness Education:
http://www.bioprepare.org/
Pandemic flu information from the U.S. government:
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
Monty
Well, I guess our government is now telling us to take care of ourselves; its every man for themselves on this train, heading towards a big wreck just down the road! Derailment big time this year!!!!!??? Year of the Boar/Pig could be a disasterous year. Just call me a gloom and doomer....
