Indonesia, HI Partner Against Bird Flu

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

       Indonesia, HI Partner Against Bird Flu

Stacy Loe - 

Bird flu has killed an estimated 70 people in Indonesia. It's the hardest hit country so far and a big reason our State Health Director recently met with scientists there.

Bird flu has not yet reached our state, but it has a firm hold on Indonesia. The governor's recent trip there established relationships the health director hopes to capitalize on.

"I think our ability to work with them and send some of our lab people down to their lab and their people come to ours to increase and strengthen the technical capabilities of each of our staffs to deal with identifying bird flu," said Chiyome Fukino, health director.

Indonesia is building a bio safety level 3 lab to be able to test for the disease.

"That's where we see our partnership as very important because the state of Hawaii has some experience with this technology," said Fukino.

Hawaii's only level 3 lab belongs to the University of Hawaii. The state's lab is only a level 2. That means samples of deadly diseases taken there have to be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the mainland for testing.

"That would take probably anywhere from three to five to seven days or longer to get the results back. If we had that capability here in the state, we could contain the illness much better," said Fukino.

The state's hoping to get approval to raise the level in the next few months. That's just one thing Chiyome Fukino says the state's doing to prepare for the real possibility of a bird flu pandemic.

The state bought enough anti-viral medication to treat 25 percent of the population. It's also stepped up screening on arriving airlines passengers. Fukino said, "What the state has done is purchase, through homeland security funds, what I call hospitals in a box. Basically we have the capacity to bring up tents."

No one knows when a pandemic will hit. But Fukino says we can be prepared, unlike Indonesia.

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Indonesia, HI Partner Against Bird Flu Posted: July 03 2007 at 3:29am
	Indonesia, HI Partner Against Bird Flu Stacy Loe - Bird flu has killed an estimated 70 people in Indonesia. It's the hardest hit country so far and a big reason our State Health Director recently met with scientists there. Bird flu has not yet reached our state, but it has a firm hold on Indonesia. The governor's recent trip there established relationships the health director hopes to capitalize on. "I think our ability to work with them and send some of our lab people down to their lab and their people come to ours to increase and strengthen the technical capabilities of each of our staffs to deal with identifying bird flu," said Chiyome Fukino, health director. Indonesia is building a bio safety level 3 lab to be able to test for the disease. "That's where we see our partnership as very important because the state of Hawaii has some experience with this technology," said Fukino. Hawaii's only level 3 lab belongs to the University of Hawaii. The state's lab is only a level 2. That means samples of deadly diseases taken there have to be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the mainland for testing. "That would take probably anywhere from three to five to seven days or longer to get the results back. If we had that capability here in the state, we could contain the illness much better," said Fukino. The state's hoping to get approval to raise the level in the next few months. That's just one thing Chiyome Fukino says the state's doing to prepare for the real possibility of a bird flu pandemic. The state bought enough anti-viral medication to treat 25 percent of the population. It's also stepped up screening on arriving airlines passengers. Fukino said, "What the state has done is purchase, through homeland security funds, what I call hospitals in a box. Basically we have the capacity to bring up tents." No one knows when a pandemic will hit. But Fukino says we can be prepared, unlike Indonesia.