Ministry holds national influenza pademic exercise
Media Release
8 November 2006
Ministry of Health holding nationwide influenza pandemic exercise
The Ministry of Health is staging a nationwide influenza pandemic exercise tomorrow.
Exercise Makgill will involve the country's 21 District Health Boards, ESR and the Ministry of Health's National Health Coordination Centre, said National Coordinator of Pandemic Planning Steve Brazier.
Ministry staff and DHBs will spend 10 hours staging a scenario that involves "cluster control" or stamping out the pandemic before it spreads through the country.
Mr Brazier said Exercise Makgill will be an ‘enhanced’ table-top exercise, where plans are practised as realistically as possible while business continues as usual for health services.
“We are asking people to do more than simply tick boxes; we're looking to give people a bit of a challenge around the kinds of things that could happen in a real pandemic."
The past 18 months has seen the Ministry of Health leading many government and other agencies through intensive planning for a potential influenza pandemic.
This work has led to the New Zealand Influenza Pandemic Action Plan (NZIPAP).
Now the NZIPAP is completed, Exercise Makgill is the first of two exercises to review the plans and ensure a robust national response.
Mr Brazier said the size of the exercise meant there was a significant amount of preparation involved.
“A huge amount of hard work is going on behind the scenes to ensure this is a valuable learning experience for everyone involved.
The lessons learnt from Exercise Makgill will enable existing plans to be modified and reassessed in the major exercise – Cruickshank – in May 2007.”
Public Health Director Dr Mark Jacobs said an influenza pandemic remains one of the biggest international threats to public health.
“An influenza pandemic occurs when a new type of influenza virus develops which can spread between people and make them sick and spreads around the world. Because the virus is new, people don't have any immunity and many people can become seriously ill.”
In the past 100 years there have been three influenza pandemics. "
"New Zealand has been actively preparing for an influenza pandemic for some time and we have detailed plans in place. Testing our preparedness through exercises is important for making sure we are as ready as we can be when the next influenza pandemic starts. ”
The exercise will evaluate how well the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards can gather critical information, respond to an unfolding scenario, and how well they use all the information they receive.
For this reason, the detailed scenario behind the exercise cannot be revealed to the media and public until the exercise has finished. Further general information is available from the Ministry of Health's website.
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What is influenza?
Influenza is a highly infectious illness caused by a
virus.
What are the symptoms?
Influenza usually
causes two or three of the following symptoms:
· Sudden
onset of fever
· Aches and pains
· Severe fatigue
· Headache
· Cough
· Sore throat
·
Stuffy or runny nose
How is it spread?
Influenza is
very infectious. It spreads through the air by coughing,
sneezing and on hands, cups, cutlery or on other objects
that have been in contact with an infected person’s mouth
or nose. Adults are infectious for five days after symptoms
occur and children for seven days.
How long does it last?
Symptoms usually start to clear up after five to seven
days.
Do antibiotics help?
Antibiotics do NOT work
against viruses, so they have no effect on influenza itself.
Some people may need antibiotics because they have a
secondary infection as well as influenza.
How common is
influenza in the community?
Each year different strains
of influenza circulate in New Zealand. Most cases occur
during the winter months.
What is an influenza epidemic?
An epidemic occurs when there is larger number of cases
of influenza than normally expected.
What is a pandemic?
An influenza pandemic occurs when a new type of
influenza virus develops and this spreads to most countries
of the world. Because the virus is new, no one has any
immunity and many people become seriously ill. An influenza
pandemic has the potential to cause widespread death and
illness as well as social and economic disruption.
Have
we had a pandemic before or is it something new?
The
twentieth century has seen three true pandemics. The first
and most devastating occurred in 1918-19, followed by the
pandemics of 1957-58 and 1968-69.
What happened in
1918?
The largest pandemic in history was in 1918. An
estimated 20-40 million people died of the disease, which
was notorious for its rapid onset and progression to
respiratory failure and death. The highest numbers of
deaths occurred in the 20-40 age group. Studies in New
Zealand military camps showed that 30-40 percent were
affected in the first wave and 50 percent by the second
wave.
What happened in 1957 and 1968?
In May 1957
the Asian influenza was identified in Singapore. By May
1958 it had spread worldwide. Infection rates were reported
to range from 20-70 percent, but fatalities were low ranging
from 1 in 2000 to 1-10,000 infections. In New Zealand the
pandemic began in Wellington in August 1957. The most at
risk were people aged from 10-30 years. A second wave hit
in late 1959.
In July 1968 a new type emerged in Hong Kong - it reached New Zealand in early 1969. Sporadic cases were reported during summer and autumn and it reached epidemic levels in June and July.
What exercises are
planned?
The exercises are:
Exercise Makgill
November 2006.
Exercise Cruickshank May 2007.
The
first exercise aims to assess some of the most difficult
aspects of pandemic planning. Lessons learnt from this
initial exercise will enable existing plans to be modified
and reassessed in the major exercise in May 2007. The names
of the exercises were chosen as they all relate to the 1918
influenza epidemic in New Zealand.
What is the likelihood
of another pandemic occurring?
The world will experience
another influenza pandemic in the foreseeable future. It
could occur at any time. Influenza is an on-going and
worldwide threat to public health. The ability of the
influenza virus to change by mutation results in altered
viruses, which can cause regular epidemics. In New Zealand
epidemic influenza most commonly peaks in the winter months
of July and August.
Are we at risk in New Zealand?
Everyone worldwide is at risk. New Zealand would almost
certainly be affected by influenza pandemic.
ENDS