Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113315

Myrna R. Epstein, PhD, MPH¹, Timothy W. Wilson, DVM, MPH¹, Janice K. Louie, MD, MPH², Christian Sandrock, MD³, Nolana Daoust, MPH⁴, Julie Yasuda, MPH⁵, Bernette Tsai⁵, Melissa Reyes⁵, and Michael Campbell⁵. (1) Epidemiology & Planning, Yolo County Health Department, 10 Cottonwood Street, Woodland, CA 95695, (2) Immunization Branch, California Department of Health Services, 2151 Berkeley Way Room 716, Berkeley, CA 94704, (3) Division of Infectious Diseases School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, 4150 V Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, (4) Epidemiology, Sacramento County Health Department, 7001-A East Parkway, Suite 600, Sacramento, CA 95823, (5) School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, 916-456-5637, jmyasuda@ucdavis.edu

In response to the heightened threat of bioterrorism and new emerging infections, health departments have been tasked with the responsibility to provide training to public health and other emergency response medical providers to be able to rapidly identify, respond and contain the spread of disease. On June 10, 2004, the Yolo County Health Department conducted an Avian Flu disease outbreak exercise at the University of California at Davis. The key objectives of the Drill were to 1)identify, investigate, and isolate “patients ill or exposed” to disease, 2) provide MOCK vaccinations to hundreds of volunteers, 3) transport “ill patients” to local hospitals and clinics for isolation and treatment and 4) test emergency operations and communications. Months of planning were spent developing schematics for interviewing, case finding and setting isolation and quarantine guidelines for Avian Flu. Personnel teamed together from the local departments of health, mental health and emergency services, students and faculty from the University school of medicine, telemedicine and emergency preparedness departments, medical consultants from the California Department of Health Services, epidemiologists from surrounding health departments and emergency planners from local hospitals, community clinics, ambulance and Red Cross agencies. This was the first large-scale test of a community's ability to respond to Avian Flu in the United States, hypothesized in the drill as a highly contagious, new emerging disease.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop collaborative response to disease outbreaks among public health and university epidemiologists
• Evaluate capacity for investigation and control of communicable disease outbreaks
• Identify epidemiologic tools for tracking communicable disease cases and contacts

Keywords: Outbreaks, Collaboration

Related Web page: www.yolocounty.org/org/health/avianfludrill.asp

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation