Person With Measles Visits Super Bowl Village, Others May Have Been Infected

The Indiana State Health Department has confirmed a person infected with Measles visited the Super Bowl Village sometime last week, possibly on Friday. An estimated 250,000 people had been at the location throughout the day. The person never visited any indoor Super Bowl event, though it still remains unclear if that person attended the Super Bowl Celebration.

Two additional cases have since been confirmed in Indiana. Indiana State health officials are asking everyone, especially those who were at the Super Bowl Village on Friday, to check your family’s medical records and make sure everyone’s immunizations are up to date.

Swine Flu (H1N1) Spreading Across Globe, Time for Business Planning Running Out

As Swine Flu continues to spread at a rapid pace, the window of opportunity for preparedness is closing fast as well.

Initially I was putting out preparedness information through my business/blog newsletter, however the situation has evolved rapidly enough that I thought it best to post some important information directly here on my blog.

First and foremost, if you run a business REVIEW or quickly develop a pandemic plan now, before it gets too late.

With that said, don’t panic, remain calm. There is no reason at this moment to not send your kids to school or stay home if you are not having symptoms. You can also not get the Swine Flu from eating pork.

Currently and for the first time, the WHO has increased its phase level of pandemic alert and changed the definitions of the phases; it is currently at Phase 4.

You can read more about the WHO Pandemic Phases on the WHO website, but here is the current definition of Phase 4:

Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion.

Breakdown of the new WHO definitions:

• Phase 1: No viruses circulating in animals that cause infections in humans
• Phase 2: Animal virus is circulating that is known to cause human infection
• Phase 3: Animal or human-animal reassortment virus causes sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people but not sustained community level outbreaks
• Phase 4: Verified human-to-human transmission of a virus that is able to cause community level outbreaks and marks a significant upward shift in the risk for a pandemic
• Phase 5: Human-to-human spread of virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. This is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent
• Phase 6: Pandemic phase
• Post-peak: Pandemic disease levels in most countries with adequate surveillance have dropped below peak levels
• Post-pandemic: Influenza disease activities has returned to levels normally associated with seasonal influenza

The current situation is extremely fluid and as of this posting a total of 64 cases have been confirmed inside the United States. I will not focus on cases outside the United States at this time, however you can find updates to this information by going to the CDC Swine Flu web page, it is currently updated once per day.

Recommendations:

• Communicate to your employees; review your plan with them.
• Consider sending out daily reminders, about proper hand washing, and proper sneezing and coughing techniques.
• Consider eliminating ALL business related travel to Mexico; utilize telecommunications, virtual meetings for business.
• If you considered implementing the prophylactic use of anti-virals, now is the time to review your plan. If you are considering them as an option, now is the time to sign up.
• Now is the time to consider telecommuting options for employees who can work from home, and getting them trained. Don’t wait allow them time to adjust so they will be ready if it becomes a must.
• Consider options for what telecommuting employees will do if working remotely fails. Many businesses are planning the same options. Reduced internet performance and even outages will be likely.
• Consider what to do if employees refuse to come in to work (from panic)
• Consider how to handle employees who may appear to be ill, but come to work anyway.

There will be many other options to consider.

Act now before it is too late.

If you need help planning for your business, have questions or concerns you can send me an email through my contact us page.

Or you can always call me directly on my business phone at:

877-565-TECH (8324)

URGENT UPDATE: CDC Says Too Late To Contain Swine Flu

URGENT UPDATE: CDC saying it is too late to contain the outbreak of Swine Flu H1N1

The information is coming in fast I was the total reported cases in MEXICO is now over 1000

The cases in U.S. is around 9, CA (7) TX (2)

For more information see the CDC Swine Flu page

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO THIS POST:

Mexican Swine Flu Epidemic Sparks Concerns In United States and Canada

Mexican Swine Flu Epidemic Sparks Concerns In United States, And Canada

An outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico has infected nearly 600 people and approximately 61 people have died as of this posting from the deadly virus.

There are also reports of 7 people infected within the United States in California (5) and Texas (2) from Swine Flu as well.

One major source of concern was that the virus included strains from different types of flu.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the virus in the United States was a never-before-seen mixture of viruses typical among pigs, birds and humans. All seven American patients have recovered.

According to Dave Daigle, spokesperson for the CDC, "This is the first time that we've seen an avian strain, two swine strains and a human strain."

Mexico has canceled school for millions of children in Mexico City and has warned people to avoid shaking hands or kiss when greeting and not to share food, glasses or cutlery for fear of contracting the flu.

For more information on Swine Flu visit this CDC page

Salmonella Outbreak, Product Recall Grows

The Salmonella outbreak and product recall continues to expand. It now includes pet foods, fruit, and vegetable products.

Currently all consumer based peanut butter in jars are considered safe.

For a complete listing of the products go to Peanut Butter Product Recalls

Currently a total of 486 people have been sickened in the outbreak, with six deaths. 65 people have become ill in Ohio, with 62 reported in California.