State drafts
rapid flu plan

Isle officials describe concern
over avian influenza, which
has re-emerged in Vietnam

The state Health Department is drafting a plan to respond quickly in case a flu pandemic reaches Hawaii.

A World Health Organization official said Wednesday at an avian influenza meeting in Vietnam that WHO believes "the world is now in the gravest possible danger of a pandemic," an epidemic that spreads across a region or country.

Measures are being taken in Asia to address fears that bird flu could trigger a human influenza epidemic. Fourteen people have died in Vietnam since bird flu re-emerged in humans nine weeks ago.

Dr. Sarah Park, deputy chief of the Disease Outbreak and Control Division, who is spearheading the response planning project here, said pandemic flu is more of a concern than a threat to Hawaii now.

"It's just a worry for us because we're in the flight path for visitors from Asia and travelers returning to Asia," Park said.

She said a Health Department team just returned from a conference in Denver sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Western and Pacific states and Pacific island nations to address pandemic flu planning.

"Some states had more experience than others. They tried table-top exercises and practical exercises in communications, mass clinics and things like that, different ideas for command centers.

"It was good to hear what worked for them and what didn't work."

But states must tailor planning to their unique circumstances, she said.

"We have issues a lot of them don't have," including probably more travelers and visitors, she added.

She said a preliminary plan has been drafted, and health officials are working on a final plan with military and hospital counterparts and other partners.

They will continue to establish contact with public health and other health care agencies in the state, as well as first responders, she said.

"The whole idea about the plan is when we have an emergent response, whether it's pandemic or avian or any other flu or emergency, we will at least have an idea who we need to contact and how we need to go about responding so we're not caught completely unaware," she said.

She said a wide-scale response to pandemic or avian flu involves more than the usual outbreak investigation.

"We want to make sure we address all possibilities, mass immunization clinics for instance, distributing antibiotics or antivirals for flu and addressing prioritization -- who gets what."

Communications also are important, she said. "There are many facets to an emergent response, especially on a massive scale, that can easily overwhelm an agency."

There is no way to predict every move and be 100 percent prepared, she said. But if there is a framework for response, when something happens "at least you're not paralyzed and can start actions in motion," she added.

Health experts are concerned that the bird flu in Asia could mutate into a highly infectious form of the disease and spark a global pandemic that could kill millions of people. The concern is heightened by the fact that flu pandemics usually occur in 25-year cycles, and the last one was in 1968, scientists say.