CDC head says states should aim to contain bird flu

By Brooke Donald, Associated Press Writer  |  June 7, 2006

BOSTON --States preparing for a possible bird flu outbreak should focus on how to contain the virus as a vaccine will be unavailable for several months, the head of the Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday.

"Out of the starting gate there won't be any vaccine, it'll take some time. So we've got to look at old-fashioned ways of slowing the virus down," Dr. Julie Gerberding told The Associated Press.

In the event of a pandemic, hospitals are likely to experience shortages in staffs, supplies, beds and medicine, Gerberding said, but state and local officials can help alleviate pressure on medical centers by having measures in place to contain the virus at its outset.

"The old fashioned ways -- setting up quarantines, wearing masks -- are not high tech, but as we saw in SARS they can work. The goal is to slow down the spread," Gerberding said in a phone interview on her way to Boston for a forum on state bird flu preparedness.

The federal government has been preparing for bird flu, the name for the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian flu that has killed more than 100 people, mostly in Asia, to come to the United States.

The virus is typically spread from direct contact with contaminated birds, but scientists fear the virus will mutate and be passed person-to-person, which could lead to a pandemic.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Mitt Romney has put together a state preparedness plan, similar to the federal government's plan, that addresses command and control procedures, vaccine management, emergency response and communications.

Romney also has asked the Legislature to spend $36.5 million to buy thousands of hospital beds, doses of medication and other supplies in preparation for a pandemic.

State officials, using federal projection models, estimate that as many as 20,000 state residents could die in a pandemic, and as many as 30 percent, or up to 2 million residents, could get sick.

As lawmakers and administration officials work out their plans, communities have held conferences on how they'll handle a potential outbreak.

School administrators are considering using an automated phone bank to announce homework assignments and update parents. Another plan would use the Internet for communication between students and their teachers.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told the AP Tuesday that local officials would be responsible for distributing vaccine doses once they're available.

Gerberding echoed his remarks, adding: "Every community and its planners will have to decide how to distribute the doses. It's impossible for us to prescribe that federally."

The Massachusetts plan says vaccine will be targeted to high-risk individuals in the initial stages, but recognizes that identifying who is at the most risk may be difficult because young and healthy adults may also become very ill.

Gerberding is one of the keynote speakers at the forum, hosted by Brandeis University, in Boston on Thursday. A panel discussion also is planned featuring Paul Cote, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Health, and Harold Cox of the Cambridge Department of Public Health.

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