Pawlenty Assures State on Pandemic

11/04/2005

by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Pawlenty Administration officials offered assurances plans are in place to handle a bird flu pandemic in Minnesota.

But officials portrayed an outbreak as a possibly, not a certainty.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Harry Hull noted that the Asian bird flu virus, H5N1 — a virus that has killed about half of the Asians that it has infected — while discovered in poultry in Europe and Asia hasn’t reached North America.

Indeed, Hull said H5N1 transmits poorly to humans. Even if a human ate a bird infected with H5N1, if the bird were properly cooked and handled, the virus would pose no health risk.

As it is, H5N1 is unlikely to launch the pandemic that could have the Minnesota governor banning gatherings, closing schools, ordering quarantines, overseeing mass vaccinations.

“The virus has to mutate into a different form,” said Hull. “Will it be this year? Well, maybe. But it might be next year. It might be the year after,” he said. “It might never happen,” said Hull.

Because H5N1 hasn’t mutated, there is no vaccine yet.

In the event of an outbreak, state planners envision the metro population being vaccinated within 48 hours — the entire state within a week.

Where vaccinations would begin depends on where the outbreak would occur, officials noted.

Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson noted that avian influenza (AI) outbreaks are not unusual.

An outbreak occurred in Minnesota about two years ago, he explained.

AI is found worldwide in wild waterfowl and in shorebirds, noted the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

All the low pathological AIs introduced to Minnesota over the past 30 years have been wiped out within six months and a high pathological AI has never been detected, the board notes.

About 75,000 samples of poultry are taken each year in Minnesota as part of AI screening.

Hugoson doesn’t see much of a chance of a high pathological AI breaking out in Minnesota’s $1.5 billion poultry industry. For one thing, a great deal of poultry is raised indoors, away from wild birds.

Agricultural practices are different in Minnesota than in Asia, where farmers often live in close proximately to their poultry, Hugoson explained.

Poultry or poultry products from East Asian counties currently cannot be imported into the United States.

The Board of Animal Health notes some of the most likely scenarios of East Asian H5N1 being introduced into the United States includes the illegal importation of infected products, infection by wild birds, the movement of infected humans, or deliberate agro-terrorism.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has designated the Minnesota Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management as the lead agency in the event of a pandemic.

They’re to coordinate planning and response.

The state has had an influenza pandemic plan since 1999. The plan has been periodically revised.

“You don’t want to get caught flatfooted,” said Pawlenty.