Public Health

Pandemic Influenza

Washington County’s Department of Health and Human Services has overall responsibility for public health and medical services, including responding to epidemics and pandemics, for the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county.

What’s Happening Now?

(Courtesy of PandemicFlu.gov)

A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which people have little or no immunity, and for which there is no vaccine. The disease spreads easily person-to-person, causes serious illness, and can sweep across the country and around the world in a very short time.

It is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be. Wherever and whenever a pandemic starts, everyone around the world is at risk. Countries might, through measures such as border closures and travel restrictions, delay arrival of the virus, but cannot stop it.

Health professionals are concerned that the continued spread of a highly pathogenic avian H5N1 virus across eastern Asia and other countries represents a significant threat to human health. The H5N1 virus has raised concerns about a potential human pandemic because:

It is especially virulent
It is being spread by migratory birds
It can be transmitted form birds to mammals and in some limited circumstances to humans, and
Like other influenza viruses, it continues to evolve.

Since 2003, a growing number of human H5N1 cases have been reported in Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Lao Democratic People’s Republic, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. More than half of the people infected with the H5N1 virus have died. Most of these cases are all believed to have been caused by exposure to infected poultry. There has been no sustained human-to-human transmission of the disease, but the concern is that H5N1 will evolve into a virus capable of human-to-human transmission.

Preparedness

The City of Beaverton has been developing a pandemic plan that will help the city continue to provide critical services during a pandemic.

All individuals, families, and businesses are encouraged to take steps to prepare themselves for the potential of a pandemic. Normal “all-hazard” preparedness advocates being prepared for a minimum of 72-hours (PDF); however the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommends people maintain at least two weeks of food and supplies to prepare for a pandemic.