First Possible Outbreak of H5N1 in North America
Its a little premature to be too alarmed, but I just saw a news report from January 23 that said that Canada may have had its first outbreak of H5N1 on a Turkey farm in British Columbia. See the link below for more details.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/jan2309avian-jw.html
IF it turns out to be true, and at this point it’s just suspected, then it may be a major turning point. This will be the first case of high pathegin H5N1 in North America. There was a case of low pathegin H5N1 in Virginia a few years ago, but low pathegin H5N1 is not dangerous to people. High pathegin is the kind that is in the news, that can be deadly to people.
If it is confirmed to be high pathegin H5N1, then it may be just a matter of time before it makes its way into the U.S. Experts have long thought that the migratory pattern of wild birds would bring H5N1 to the U.S. sooner or later, and the government checks many thousands of migratory birds every year to see if they have H5N1. So far, they haven’t found any, but that may soon change.
This is a wake up call that everyone needs to begin preparing for a pandemic. At the least, people should start gathering extra food, water and medicine, learn and begin using proper hygiene, and consider how a pandemic might affect your family - Will your job be affected? Can you work from home? What if schools close? I’ll discuss all of this in a future blog, or feel free to e-mail me your questions at hdolgin@dolginconsulting.com to learn more.
Thanks.
Harlan Dolgin
Dolgin Consulting
Tags: Bird Flu, H5N1, Pandemic, Pandemic Planning, Pandemic Preparedness