[Archived] City of Alexandria Planning for Pandemic Influenza

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	April 14, 2006 PIO# 084-06/sjm	Steven J. Mason, Public Information Officer, or Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

City of Alexandria Planning for Pandemic Influenza
Mayor Euille wants City Prepared

As part of its efforts to prepare for a possible pandemic influenza outbreak last November Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille established the Mayor’s Pandemic Influenza Working Group, that includes the Mayor, Councilman Ludwig Gaines, representatives of the City government, the Alexandria Health Department, local organizations, and the community. The Working Group is charged with creating a pandemic flu response plan that will supplement the City’s emergency operations plans.

Recognizing that pandemic flu planning is not strictly a health issue, Mayor Euille said, “Preparedness and planning are the responsibility of every government agency, our health care providers, the business industry, as well as every City resident. It will take hard work and tremendous effort to be prepared in the event of a major outbreak of serious illness, but I am confident we’ve got an excellent resource team working on our plan.”

The widely publicized bird flu has not yet caused a pandemic because, in its current form, it is not easily passed from person to person, according to Dr. Charles Konigsberg, Jr., Health Director for the City of Alexandria. Dr. Konigsberg indicates, however, that it is an entirely new strain of flu, so no one is immune to it, and people who catch it from birds often become seriously ill with an unusually high rate of deaths.

“As a result, it is only prudent to plan now for any possibility, whether it is this strain of flu or some other strain,” Dr. Konigsberg said. The Health Department reminds residents that hand washing, covering your cough, and staying at home when ill are always the most important actions people can take, all year long, to prevent the spread of germs that cause illness.

The Mayor’s Working Group is addressing a wide range of issues, including the capacity of the health care system to handle an increase in patients, the possible limited use of quarantine or closings, the emotional impact of a pandemic on our residents, the effective management of fatalities, and the best way to ensure a continuity of government services and other critical services to people in Alexandria. Recognizing the probability that vaccines and other medicines will be available at best on a very limited basis, the Group is also addressing the challenging question of how to prioritize the distribution of this limited supply. Each of these topics is being addressed by sub-committees of the Working Group who will be assisted by City staff as well as subject matter experts. The subcommittee work will be incorporated into a pandemic flu plan that will be completed by early fall.

For more information on pandemic flu or to locate additional resources, log onto www.vdh.virginia/pandemicflu.gov or www.pandemicflu.gov or call the Alexandria Health Department at 703.838.4400, ext. 275.

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