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For Immediate Release Monday, May 8, 2006
Upcoming Avian Flu Movie is "Fiction, Not Fact"
Health Officials Advise
DENVER - The Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment Monday reminded Coloradans that the made-for-television
movie, “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America,” which is to air on the ABC
network at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9, is “fiction, not fact.”
Dennis Ellis, the Department of Public Health and
Environment’s executive director, said, “It is very important that
residents of Colorado remember that this is a fictional movie, not a
documentary. The likelihood of such a flu pandemic occurring in the
United States is extremely remote. There is no reason to panic.”
Ellis instead urged individuals, families, businesses,
schools, organizations and communities to use the movie as a basis for
making certain they are prepared for any health-related or
weather-related emergency that might hit the state.
“There are steps that each of us in Colorado should
take,” Ellis said. “Every household should have a supply of food, water
and required medications on hand in case family members have to stay
home. It also is always important to do what your mom told you to do:
Wash your hands frequently. Stay home from work when you are sick. Cover
your cough.”
Dr. Ned Calonge, the state’s chief medical officer who
is based at the Department of Public Health and Environment, emphasized
that avian flu is almost exclusively a disease of birds and that avian
flu, carried by birds, has not appeared in the United States.
“A wild bird with avian flu may reach this country
through world migratory paths. But that still does not mean that the
H5N1 virus will affect humans in the United States,” the chief medical
officer said. “Efficient human-to-human transmission of avian flu has
not been achieved and may never be.”
Calonge also emphasized, “The next flu pandemic that
affects the United States and the rest of the world also may be
substantially less severe than what the movie depicts or which occurred
in 1918.”
He noted that the flu pandemic of 1957/58 and 1968/69
caused so much less illness and death than did the 1918/19 pandemic
that, at the time, many Americans did not distinguish these flu
outbreaks from seasonal influenza and were unaware that these were
classified as pandemics.
The seasonal flu outbreak in the United States results
in approximately 36,000 deaths annually, Calonge said.
Ellis explained that the Department of Public Health and
Environment has a plan in place for dealing with a flu pandemic and is
working with Colorado law enforcement and governmental organizations;
the medical and educational communities; businesses; local public health
departments and county public health nursing services to help them
develop such plans of their own if they haven’t already done so.
Calonge explained that the influenza virus primarily is
spread by airborne droplets that reach the eyes, nose or mouth but also
can be spread by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the
face. He said this highlights the importance of learning and practicing
good personal hygiene, including:
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Wash hands frequently with soap and water.
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Cover mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or
sneezing.
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Put used tissues in a waste basket.
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Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve if you don’t
have a tissue.
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Clean hands after coughing or sneezing. Use soap and
water or an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
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Stay at home if you are sick.
Ellis reminded Coloradans that if they find dead birds
or would like to report sick or dying birds in their bird flocks in the
state, they should call the Colorado Health Emergency Line for the
Public (CoHELP) at 1-877-462-2911. The emergency line staff is available
to respond to hotline calls from 7 a.m. to11 p.m. on Mondays through
Fridays and from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ellis emphasized that a dead bird likely will have
nothing to do with avian flu, but the bird may be infected with West
Nile virus, which has been present in Colorado since August 2002 and
will appear again as warm weather approaches. Culex tarsalis mosquitoes
are the primary carriers of the disease in Colorado and, in turn, infect
humans, birds and horses with West Nile virus.
Additional recommendations for family and individual preparedness for a
flu pandemic or any other emergency can be found on the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services Web site at
www.pandemicflu.gov or the
Colorado site,
www.readycolorado.org.
For more information on Boulder County Emergency
Preparedness:
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