How is Georgia preparing for bird flu and a potential pandemic?
The Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health and the Georgia Department of Agriculture are taking part in a number of prevention and preparedness activities, which include: • The Georgia Poultry Laboratory assists with routine surveillance for H5 or H7 viruses in Georgia poultry. • Providers throughout the State of Georgia participate in the U.S. Influenza Sentinel Provider Surveillance Network. • Georgia is in the final stages of developing action plans for both Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza. These plans provide the framework for state and local activities in the event of an outbreak in Georgia. • Table top exercises including several state agencies and local public health have been conducted to evaluate Georgia’s preparedness for a bird flu outbreak. • Laboratory capacity to detect novel flu subtypes among humans is being expanded in Georgia. • An inhome hospital care plan is in under development. This plan will limit the opportunity
