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Public Health Preparedness

The Ottawa County Health Department is committed to protecting health and safety, and has been coordinating public health preparedness with local, regional and state emergency response officials. The purposes of public health preparedness are to communicate public health roles and responsibilities in an emergency and to help the community prepare for situations.

Why should we plan and prepare?

A successful emergency response depends on building and strengthening partnerships. Planning will help us save lives and property as well as maintain and improve our community’s quality of life. Planning can help keep our infrastructure and economy running smoothly.

Although the health department is planning for public health emergencies it is also your responsibility to plan. On this page you will find helpful information, links to websites, and tools that will help you and your family become prepared if an emergency would strike your area. Always remember to ask yourself…ARE YOU PREPARED?

The following downloadable guides will help you and your family prepare for emergencies:

Family Preparation Guide
Preparing for a Public Health Emergency

The guides are also available individually or in quantities for your community group by calling (616) 494-5597.

Preparing for Emergencies

Emergency Preparedness applies to natural as well as man-made disasters. In Ottawa County, examples of public health emergencies include large scale disease outbreaks caused by contaminated food, water or air. Natural disasters, emerging diseases and potential terrorist threats involving biological, chemical, radiological or nuclear exposure are also areas of focus for public health emergency planning.

Examples of Public Health Responsibilities

- Maintaining Safe Food and Water		- Managing Waste Disposal
- Providing Mass Vaccination or Antibiotic Distribution		- Containing and Surveying Communicable Disease
- Determining Quarantine or Isolation		- Managing Mass Casualties
- Controlling Pest Infestation

Personal Health

If mass immunizations or medical services are needed for the residents of our community, the health department may set up a dispensing site to give vaccines, antibiotics or antidotes. Sources of information include news reports giving instructions from officials about who should receive services, and where and when services are provided in the community.

Pandemic Influenza

The Ottawa County Health Department has developed a local pandemic flu preparedness committee. The following groups are involved in the coalition:

Executive Board Members

Holland Community Hospital		American Red Cross
Zeeland Community Hospital		Ottawa County MSU Extension
North Ottawa Community Hospital		Grand Haven Board of Power and Light
Ottawa County Intermediate School District (OAISD)		Pfizer, Inc.
Grand Valley State University		Meijer, Inc.
Herman Miller

Avian Influenza

Avian Influenza—the bird flu—is a disease caused by a virus that infects wild birds such as geese, ducks swans , shorebirds, domestic poultry, and in rare cases, other animals and humans. Many state and local organizations are working together to conduct Avian Influenza surveillance and to monitor the health of poultry, livestock, wildlife and people in Michigan.

General Information
How could Avian Influenza come to the United States?
What are we doing to prevent Avian Influenza?
What should I be doing to prevent Avian Influenza?
Should I be concerned about Avian Influenza when hunting?
Can I get Avian Flu from eating infected poultry?

General Information

Avian Influenza has been documented in domestic poultry and wild waterfowl at low levels in the United States for decades. Just as in people, birds commonly get the flu, too. In birds, most strains of the virus (identified with letters and numbers? for example H3N2) are mild (or Low Pathogenic) and cause only mild symptoms. Despite there being over 140 strains of Avian Influenza in birds, people are rarely infected.

The virus currently of global concern is a strain of H5N1 Avian Influenza originally documented in Asian countries. This strain is a Highly Pathogenic strain which causes severe illness and death in poultry. To date this High Path form of H5N1 Avian Influenza has not been found in the U.S. However, a Low Path strain of H5N1 was found on a Michigan poultry farm in 2002. The poultry flock was humanely destroyed as a safety precaution.

As of early April 2006, the H5N1 strain of global concern has not been detected in either birds or humans in the U.S. However, if the H5N1 strain is detected in the U.S. it does not mean that a human pandemic has begun, or will begin. For a pandemic to occur the virus must be easily transmitted from person to person. At this time the H5N1 Avian Influenza strain of concern does not have that ability.

The High Path H5N1 strain has been fatal to birds and has caused extreme illness in a number of people and animals in other countries. The infected people had close contact with sick or dead infected domestic poultry, including plucking feathers off infected dead birds, selling sick poultry in live bird markets, and sleeping in barns with sick birds where they were exposed to bird droppings. Mammals, including humans that were exposed to uncooked infected birds, also have become sick with Avian Influenza.

As of early April 2006, approximately 109 human deaths caused by High Path H5N1 Avian Influenza have been identified worldwide. Although the H5N1 strain may make people extremely sick and can even be fatal, there is no strong evidence the disease can be spread from person to person.

Unlike seasonal flu, which causes approximately 36,000 deaths each year in the U.S., Avian Influenza in people is more likely to be an occupational illness of those who have close contact with sick and dead poultry. In this country it is very rare for people in cities and towns to be exposed to sick live poultry, and the USDA inspection system prevents diseased animals from entering the food chain.

How could Avian Influenza come to the United States?

The High Path H5N1 strain could reach the U.S. in a number of ways -- wild bird migration, smuggling of birds or poultry products, and travel by infected people. The disease is being monitored closely by local, state and federal agencies and the domestic poultry industry. These agencies are taking steps to prepare for and minimize the potential health, economic and conservation impacts of High Path H5N1, if it should be detected in the U.S. and Michigan.

What are we doing to prevent Avian Influenza?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine operates a station at Detroit's Metro Airport where flights from foreign countries are monitored. U.S. Customs and Border Protection also monitors incoming passengers and luggage for potentially contaminated products and smuggled birds.

As a primary safeguard, USDA maintains trade restrictions on the importation of poultry and poultry products from H5N1-affected countries. All healthy, imported live birds must be quarantined for 30 days at a U.S. quarantine facility and tested for the Avian influenza virus before entering the country. Additionally, the U.S. has increased its monitoring of domestic commercial markets for smuggled poultry and poultry products.

In the event of an Avian Influenza outbreak in this country, it is normal practice to humanely destroy healthy domestic birds in a geographic area surrounding the infected birds. USDA may use bird vaccines to protect healthy birds as well.

The MDA, DNR, U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture and MSU sample migratory waterfowl and domestic poultry for the H5N1 virus. The enhanced monitoring of live bird markets, commercial flocks, backyard flocks and migratory bird populations will provide an early warning to the agriculture, wildlife and public health officials.

Michigan's Preparedness: Federal, state, and local agencies in Michigan have worked closely with poultry, livestock and wildlife officials, MSU experts and domestic poultry industry leaders for years to prevent the introduction and spread of High Path Avian Influenza in Michigan. These activities include Surveillance and Response:

Surveillance means monitoring for disease. The early detection and the rapid, accurate diagnosis of Avian Influenza sets the stage for the response activities that follow. These are accomplished by surveillance of wild waterfowl, shorebirds and domestic poultry populations to detect Avian Influenza through laboratory testing. If Avian Influenza is detected, response plans are in place to prevent further spread of disease.

What should I be doing to prevent Avian Influenza?

An Avian Influenza outbreak does not imply that there will be a human outbreak, or a pandemic. However as part of your family emergency response plan each individual and family should know both the magnitude of what can happen during a large-scale disease outbreak and what actions can be taken to help lessen the impact on themselves and their community. To plan for a disease outbreak:

Store a supply of water and food, it will be important for you to have extra supplies on hand. This can be useful in other types of emergencies, such as power outages, winter storms and disasters.
Have nonprescription drugs and other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes and vitamins.
Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick, or what will be needed to care for them in your home.

Practice good health habits that limit the spread of germs:

Wash hands frequently with soap and water.
Cover coughs and sneezes with tissues.
Stay home from work and school if sick. Keep your children away from others if they are sick.
Cook your food thoroughly.

Should I be concerned about Avian Influenza when hunting?

As stated, the High Path H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza that originated in Asia is currently not found in the U.S. State and federal wildlife agencies have established an intensive surveillance program for H5N1. Should this virus appear in the U.S., spread of the disease from game birds to human, though unlikely, is possible through significant contact with fecal material and fluids when handling or dressing an infected bird. Hunters are encouraged to take precautions when handling and dressing birds, including the use of rubber gloves. For overall safety, all wild birds should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165° F.

As a precaution the U.S. Department of Interior's National Wildlife Health Center has issued the following guidelines for routine handling of wild birds:

Do not handle birds that are obviously sick or birds found dead.
Wear rubber or disposable latex gloves while handling and cleaning game, wash hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand products if the hands are not visibly soiled.
Thoroughly clean knives, equipment and surfaces that come in contact with game.
Do not eat, drink, or smoke while handling or cleaning birds.
Cook all meat to an internal temperature of 165° F to kill any disease organisms and parasites.

Can I get Avian Flu from eating infected poultry?

If High Path Avian Influenza were detected in the U.S., the chance of infected poultry entering the human food chain would be extremely low. However, should this occur, proper cooking kills this virus just as cooking kills many other disease organisms. When handling food follow these food safety guidelines:

Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food (this virus is killed with soap and water).
Prevent cross-contamination by keeping raw meat, poultry, fish and their juices away from other foods.
After cutting raw meats, wash cutting board, knife and counter tops with hot, soapy water.
Sanitize cutting boards by using a solution of one (1) teaspoon chlorine bleach in one (1) quart of water.

Use a food thermometer to ensure food has reached the safe internal temperature in all parts of the bird. USDA recommends poultry be cooked to an internal temperature of 165° F to kill foodborne germs that might be present, including the Avian Influenza virus.

Disease Information

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