Compiled by the AHCJ Pandemic Task Force
Resources from AHCJ
Covering H1N1 flu, pandemics and preparedness
AHCJ has a number of resources to offer for journalists covering H1N1, also known as swine flu. In addition, we have gathered links to other organizations, relevant hearings and press briefings and some expert sources.
A Primer to Avian and Pandemic Influenza
A great place to start. This tip sheet was compiled in June 2006 by Maryn McKenna for fellow members of the Association of Health Care Journalists. This tip sheet presumes that AHCJ members already have EurekAlert access and know how to conduct a PubMed/Medline search for researchers’ names and past work.
Tips for journalists at smaller news organizations
Suggestions from Mel Huff of The (Barre, Vt.) Times Argus, with contributions from Bloomberg News’ Kristen Hallam.
Preparing your community for pandemics
A session at AHCJ’s 2006 conference was “Preparing your community for pandemics.” Several speakers’ presentations from that session are available:
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Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, M.D., FACP; Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, UTHSCH; Medical Director for Epidemiology, MHHS
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Herminia Palacio, Harris County (Texas) Department of Public Health and Environmental Services
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Georges Benjamin, American Public Health Association
How prepared is your city for health disasters?
This was a panel at the 2007 Urban Health Journalism Workshop. Speakers’ presentations are available as MP3 files, Flash presentations or PDFs.
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Moderator Karl Stark, pharmaceuticals reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, introduces the panel.
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Brian Currie, senior medical director, Montefiore Medical Center
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Kim Elliott, deputy director, Trust for America’s Health
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Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press, Atlanta
The Next Big (Health) Crisis – And How to Cover It
Articles and tips from this conference cosponsored by AHCJ at the Nieman Foundation.
- Books about influenza
- Avian flu: Preparing for the crisis
- Avian flu: Communicating news of an outbreak
- The many dimensions of the avian flu story
- Avian flu: Reporting from the frontlines
- Preparing for pandemic flu
- Press lessons from the 1918 pandemic flu
- Avian flu: Reacting to the crisis
- Avian flu: Understanding the risk – What frightens rarely kills
- Avian flu: A focus on the science
- Avian flu: Interactions of journalists and sources
- The Next Big (Health) Crisis – And How to Cover It
Links to outside resources
- History
- Preparedness
- Science
- Vaccines/treatment
- Government agencies
- Other organizations
- Expert sources
- Events/Meetings
History
An Oct. 20, 2006, package by Linell Smith of The Baltimore Sun looks back at the 1918 flu that killed as many as 650,000 Americans. Smith says this “forgotten pandemic” has been neglected by historians, so The Sun asked readers to share their accounts. Among the dozens who responded were several who had first-hand experiences. The online package included images and graphics from the time, video, audio and many sidebars.
A timeline of recorded pandemics (this article was written by someone promoting a somewhat contrarian book, but the historical information is reliable)
The CDC’s summation of the outbreak that started in 1997
Jeffery Taubenberger and colleagues analyzed the 1918 viral strain, finding it to be completely avian, not a mix of avian and human.
1918 Flu Epidemic Teaching Valuable Lessons: Actions Taken Apparently Were Effective – Dec. 13, 2006, article in The Washington Post.
Preparedness
In the October 2007 issue of Governing Magazine, Gary Enos reports that states and localities will be on their own in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak. The special report outlines what the federal government would do and what the local governments would be responsible for:
“What the feds will do is oversee scientific research, vaccine development and funding for the purchase of antivirals. The states and localities are in charge of making plans related to such dicey matters as quarantining citizens, closing schools and other operations, allocating medical supplies, educating and informing families and businesses, and otherwise managing the disease and the afflicted population – and still keeping the government and local economy in working order.”
Dr. Eric Toner, an expert in hospital preparedness for pandemic influenza with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Center for Biosecurity, questions the federal government’s planning assumptions and risk analysis relating to an avian flu pandemic as well as the government’s and the hospital industry’s lack of preparedness regarding the true potential scale of needed inpatient hospital resources in a pandemic, especially during the first year when the H5N1 virus would require huge numbers of hospital intensive care beds.
Database lists pandemic-planning resources: An online collection of peer-reviewed resources intended to help public health officials prepare for an influenza pandemic was launched Sept. 24, 2007: PandemicPractices.org. The site describes and links to 130 “promising practices” from four countries, 22 states, and 33 counties. It was developed by the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), and the Pew Center on the States, part of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Laboratory preparedness for Pandemic Influenza (PDF, Oct. 24, 2007): The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services surveyed state public health laboratory officials to determine the extent to which they met the eight critical tasks for public health laboratory testing as required by the Pandemic Influenza Guidance Supplement to the 2006 Cooperative Agreement, Phase II (the Guidance).
GAO testimony: Influenza Pandemic: Opportunities Exist to Clarify Federal Leadership Roles and Improve Pandemic Planning, GAO-07-1257T (PDF, Sept. 26, 2007)
GAO: Further efforts needed to ensure clearer federal leadership roles and an effective national strategy (August 2007; PDF) – The Government Accountability Office says “federal government leadership roles and responsibilities for preparing for and responding to a pandemic continue to evolve, and will require further clarification and testing before the relationships of the many leadership positions are well understood.”
HHS announces $75 million in supplemental funding to states for pandemic flu preparedness (Aug. 30, 2007)
Avian Influenza: USDA Has Taken Important Steps to Prepare for Outbreaks, but Better Planning Could Improve Response. GAO-07-652, June 11, 2007 (PDF, 60 pages)
Highlights (PDF, 1 page)National Association of County and City Health Officials’ Local Health Department Guide to Pandemic Influenza Planning
WHO global influenza preparedness plan
The Department of Health and Human Services plan covers the actions of all the major health agencies and provides guidance to state health departments.
The National Pandemic Strategy goes beyond the HHS portion of planning to draw in other agencies such as Homeland Security. It also discusses vaccine research, antiviral stockpiling, international relationships and a number of other key topics.
States’ pandemic preparedness plans
Each state must hold a pandemic planning summit
State Allocation Distribution Chart for FY 2006
The federal government has set benchmarks for state governments and issues checklists and guidances for social sectors (businesses, schools, health care, etc.).
10-Point Framework for Pandemic Influenza Business Contingency Planning from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota
Trust for America’s Health
Funded in part by the Pew Charitable TrustsMiss. health officials stage mock bird flu drills
American Indian tribes discuss pandemic readiness
Iowa health officials test preparedness for flu pandemic with disaster drill (press release)
Legislation would reward drug companies for combating bioterror: President Bush signed legislation that creates a somewhat controversial bureaucracy that would give tax dollars to private companies and universities to develop vaccines and treatments. Scientists would contract with the federal government to take on manmade terrorist threats and naturally occurring pandemics, as well as chemical and radiological threats. (McClatchy Newspapers, Dec. 19, 2006)
As part of an ongoing relationship to sustain awareness of the threat posed by a global epidemic of avian influenza in humans, and to help organizations plan for business continuity during such an event, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP, has signed a contract with global assistance firm International SOS to provide organizations with access to the CIDRAP Business Source Web-based subscription information service. The CIDRAP Business Source will be supplied to International SOS clients as part of the firm’s subscription-based Pandemic Information Service, or PIS. (from April 19, 2007, press release)
Science
The Jan. 17, 2008, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine has a review that updates a 2005 report and incorporates information recently published or presented at the Second World Health Organization Consultation on Clinical Aspects of Human Infection with Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus.
The Lancet: H5N1 infection of the respiratory tract and beyond: a molecular pathology study
The Lancet – Relevant avian flu papers that have appeared in the journal.
Podcast from The Lancet – 23 December 2006 (mp3, 17.3Mb)
This podcast has an interview with Christopher Murray from Harvard University, one of the authors of the research article estimating 62 million deaths from a future influenza pandemic.Journal of Infectious Diseases
A group of 70 scientists from around the world (including six Nobel laureates) have agreed to share data and information about avian flu, forming the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data.
A study published online Sept. 10, 2006, in The Journal Nature Medicine says “Fatal outcome of human influenza A (H5N1) is associated with high viral load and hypercytokinemia.” (doi:10.1038/nm1477)
The FluChip, a test developed by researchers at the University of Colorado, could speed up diagnosis of a lethal avian flu strain. Research has been published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (August 2006, p. 2863-2871, Vol. 44, No. 8). Stories have appeared in The New York Times and in Medical News Today.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
An explanation of drift v. shift by a prominent American flu-vaccine researcher
A recent conference explored whether wild birds can be infected by, carry and transmit high-path viruses.
The UK-based organizations BirdLife International and Grain have written briefs defending wild birds and blaming poultry agriculture.
A list of the wild-bird species affected by H5N1 so far
An explainer and cautionary note on case-fatality rates
An explanation of the role that reassortment and adaptation have played in pandemic-strain emergence
A WHO discussion of whether pig co-infection has produced any pandemic strains of flu, prompted by a report of H5N1 being recovered from pigs in 2005
A longer discussion of genetic reassortment, from the veterinary school of University of Wisconsin
An explanation of influenza’s likely reproductive number
The CDC discusses all recent cases in which avian flu moved into humans, both high-path and low-path.
Governmental agencies
PandemicFlu.gov (also known as AvianFlu.gov) – This is intended to be a central repository of avian and pandemic flu information for all U.S. government agencies . Managed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
in 2005, the White House added pandemic flu to a list of diseases over which the federal government can exercise direct authority. The CDC has a fact sheet explaining the federal authority
The Government Accountability Office has a collection of reports and testimony related to influenza that dates back to October 2000.
Sign up for CDC e-mail alerts
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pandemic Influenza Plan
U.S. Department of Interior’s Avian Influenza page
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Avian Influenza page
U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine‘s avian/pandemic flu page – includes Dept. of Defense policies and planning efforts
Find state and local health departments
U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Guidance for Protecting Workers Against Avian Flu
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s Avian Influenza page
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Government surveillance networks are looking for the Asian lineage HPAI H5N1 subtype.
North Carolina Task Force on Ethics and Pandemic Influenza Planning
Other organizations/experts
The World Health Organization updates its tally of human cases at least once a week. (Look in the middle of the shaded box for the link to the latest tally – the WHO changes the URL with every update so making a static link to it is challenging.)
World Health Organization’s Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response
World Health Organization: Unedited transcript from the virtual press conference following the Ethics of Pandemic Influenza meeting held Oct. 24 & 25, 2006.
World Health Organization‘s Avian Influenza page
Preparing for an Influenza Pandemic: Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers: From the National Academies Press
The Kaiser Family Foundation offers information on its GlobalHealthFacts.com Web site:
Avian Flu Cases, by country
Avian Flu Deaths, by countryAmerican Public Health Association
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
National Association of County and City Health Officials
National Association of Local Boards of Health
Association of Public Health Laboratories
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease
American Society of Safety Engineers’ infection control guidelines – ASSE describes itself as “the largest and oldest professional safety organization with more than 30,000 occupational safety, health and environmental practitioner members committed to protecting people, property and the environment.” This paper is written by Aruna Vadgama, director of Quality Resources at the Menninger Clinic in Houston and administrator for the ASSE Healthcare Practice Specialty.
Council on Foundations’ list of resources
A basic influenza primer from Derek Wong, a medical virologist in Hong Kong.
CIDRAP News, the original-reporting arm of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at University of Minnesota
Effect Measure, the pseudonymous blog of a public-health insider
Connotea, which hosts an aggregator maintained by Nature writer Declan Butler
The business site of Peter Sandman, a risk-communication expert
The personal site of Crawford Kilian, a college professor and author who has taken a personal interest in flu
Flu Wiki, a collaborative effort; treat it with the same care you would any Wikipedia entries
Vaccines/treatment
Development of pandemic vaccine faces multiple obstacles: Maryn McKenna, writing for the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy, investigates the prospects for development of vaccines to head off the threat of an influenza pandemic posed by the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The series puts advances in vaccine technology in perspective by illuminating the formidable barriers to producing an effective and widely usable vaccine in a short time frame.
Vaccine industry position paper on pandemic vaccine supply issues
An annotated timeline of pandemic vaccine research grants, with researchers’ names and institutions, maintained by the main U.S. funder, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases
CDC brief on flu viruses’ rapidly increasing resistance to the adamantanes
The WHO’s page on vaccines and anti-virals
CDC fact sheet on the difference between isolation and quarantine
Flu chip could ID pandemic viruses (Nov. 14, 2007, Government Health IT)
Sources
WHO media contacts:
Dick Thompson, Geneva headquarters: 41 22 791 26 84 or thompsond@who.int
Daniel Epstein, WHO regional office for the Americas, 202-974-3459 or epsteind@paho.org
Liuba Negru, WHO regional office for Europe, Copenhagen, 45 39 17 13 44 or lne@who.dk
Chris Black, for TV/radio interviews: 41 22 791 1460HHS media contacts:
Office of the Secretary (political side) Christina Pearson, Spokeswoman, 202-205-1841 or 202-690-6343NIH (vaccine/antiviral development, research)
Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 301-496-2263 or 301-402-1663 for press officeCDC (epidemiology)
Avian and Pandemic Preparedness – Von Roebuck or Christine Pearson in CDC’s Division of Media Relations: 404-639-3286. They would handle all inquiries about the topic, national and international.
Domestic influenza issues – National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (proposed), Curtis Allen: 404-639-8487.European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EU agency)
Zsuzsanna Jakab, director
Ben Duncan, media relations: 46 708 5978 33Animal aspects of disease:
World Organization for Animal Health (known by French acronym OIE)
Maria Zampaglione, communications officer: 33-1-44-15-1888 or m.zampaglione@oie.int
Bernard Vallat, director generalFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Chris Matthews, communications in Rome: 39-06-5075-3762 or Christopher.matthews@fao.orgU.S. Department of Agriculture
Karen Eggert, USDA Public Affairs, 301-734-7280 or karen.m.eggert@usda.govThe Humane Society of the United States
Michael Greger, M.D., Director, Public Health and Animal Agriculture
Farm Animal Welfare
2100 L St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20037
Direct line: 301-258-3110
Fax: 301-258-3081
mhg1@cornell.eduEthics and psychosocial aspects:
Ross Upshur, University of Toronto, 416-480-6100 x1691 or 416-480-4931 or ross.upshur@sunnybrook.caDart Center (Centre) for Journalism and Trauma
Bruce Shapiro, executive director: 203-787-4816 or Bruce.shapiro@dartcenter.org
Mark Brayne, European director: mark.brayne@dartcentre.orgVaccines/antivirals/research:
Dr. Greg Poland, director Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group and president of the U.S. Armed Forces Epidemiology Board, poland.gregory@mayo.eduDr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, 612-625-2640 (media relations)
Public health:
American Public Health Association
Georges Benjamin, executive director
Sabrina Jones, media relations
202-777-2509 or sabrina.jones@apha.org
Events/Meetings
Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease
Sept. 19 & 20, 2006, Washington, D.C.
This workshop was held by the Institute of Medicine to examine the ethical and legal issues involved in implementing pandemic response plans. The agenda and speakers, along with presentation slides, are available on the Web site.“Pandemic Flu Preparedness: What Every Community Should Know” was a webcast on Sept. 29, 2006. This program examines California’s Santa Clara County, where the community is preparing for a pandemic that will challenge their public health system and affect every aspect of their daily life. The archived webcast is available.
Preparing for pandemic influenza
Oct. 11 & 12, 2006, Arlington, Va.
This conference will bring together an influential gathering of medical and public health leaders to review and discuss the National Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan and the Nation’s preparedness and response efforts and goals. Medical, clinical, and epidemiological experts will present the most current information related to surveillance, specific contingency plans, vaccine and drug production and stockpiling, risk communication, and the role of federal, state, and local governments in responding to a new influenza pandemic.Ethics of Pandemic Influenza meeting
Oct. 24 & 25, 2006, World Health Organization
Read an unedited transcript from the virtual press conference following the meeting.AHCJ co-sponsors Nieman health crisis conference at Harvard
Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2006
Researchers, public health officials and journalists will examine the threat of a flu pandemic – and how to cover it – while sharing lessons learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during the SARS outbreak and anthrax attacks.Pandemic Flu: Planning For the Worst
Oct. 11, 2006
A Los Angeles symposium, organized by the Trust for America’s Health and supported by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts and The California Endowment, brought together key decision-makers to share information, voice concerns and seek solutions to the inevitable gaps in their plans. The Web site includes issue briefings and video of the event.
