Missouri prepares its citizens.......

With the potential for bird flu to spread across the globe, the Columbia/Boone County Health Department has launched a comprehensive public health awareness campaign to help Boone County residents develop a preparedness plan if a pandemic emerges.

Health department Director Stephanie Browning said the agency is working with representatives from government, health care, business, education and social services to ensure an effective local response should pandemic influenza occur.

"We have developed a plan, and we are now going out into the community to do the education needed to get people prepared," she said.

The term "bird flu" generally describes one of several influenza viruses that birds can carry. The current virus causing alarm is H5N1. If the strain mutates to become easily transmissible between people, it could lead to an influenza pandemic in the human population.

Scientists say the world is long overdue for a deadly flu epidemic, although no one knows when it might occur. If a pandemic emerges, Browning said, the impact on the community could be enormous.

"The number of people that would be affected in a pandemic influenza outbreak are so great and widespread and there will be no help," she said. "We have to help ourselves, and we can’t rely on anybody else to help us."

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services recommends individuals:

● Be extra diligent in maintaining proper hygiene should pandemic flu arrive here.

● Avoid crowds.

● Stay home if one becomes ill, or use a surgical mask in public.

● Have a communication plan to stay in touch with family members.

● Have supplies on hand such as medicine and food to last at least 10 days at home.

There is currently no vaccine for the pandemic flu, and a vaccine will only be developed once a new pandemic influenza strain is known, Browning said.

"As a society, we’ve got to be prepared," she said. "If it ever happens that humans can pass it easily between each other, we will have the makings of a pandemic. If you are a business, you need to have a good emergency plan for your business to remain viable, and pandemic influenza planning should be part of that."

The Columbia/Boone County Health Department is carrying out the preparedness plan in four phases, and it has already received $29,594 and $43,124 from the Missouri health department for phases one and two of the plan.

Columbia Chamber of Commerce President Don Laird, who is part of an advisory committee that is working with the department to develop a preparedness plan, said local businesses are getting enough help from state and federal governments when it comes to disaster planning.

"They are cooperating and communicating, and I am impressed," he said. "They are the ones that are going to make that call on how to react as a community."

Mary Jenkins, a spokeswoman for University of Missouri Health Care, who is also serving in the committee, said providing the public with accurate information during emergencies is important.

"I think it is very helpful to have this committee," she said. "The committee is to make sure that we give consistent information to the public during emergencies. It is helpful for all of us to get together and make plans before an emergency happens."

For more information, call the local health department at 874-7345 or visit www.gocolumbiamo.com/health