Ever since bird flu struck people in Hong Kong in 1997, there has been speculation about the next great pandemic.
While health experts agree that for now the possibility of human-to-human transmission of bird flu is low, it is never too early to put all necessary controls in place to prevent any outbreak from occurring.
The multidisciplinary meeting this morning among government departments to discuss the issue of bird flu is an important first step.
The word pandemic elicits very visceral reactions about millions of people dying around the world, but there is no need to panic. And remember that bird flu is completely unrelated to the colds and flus that annually make their way here as winter settles in to the north.
Strict import restrictions in place in Cayman prevent the importation of birds from any areas in which there have been cases of bird flu as well as from any country where information on any disease is unknown or cannot be verified.
The Department of Agriculture will be monitoring the local and migratory bird populations.
The Department of Public Health will be working alongside Agriculture to curtail any potential spread, if the disease is found here.
In Hong Kong, the threat was dealt with by killing its entire population of chickens, all 1.5 million of them, within three days.
Similar steps could be taken here if necessary.
Minister for Health and Human Services Anthony Eden has said that the possibility of an avian flu pandemic is being taken very seriously but that there is no immediate threat to the Cayman Islands.
Of course, no one can guarantee that bird flu will not make it to our shores. But what we can do is look at the situation calmly, develop a workable plan to prevent and/or deal with any outbreak, share information with other countries and keep the public up-to-date on the latest information concerning avian flu.
Let’s hope that the meeting today among the departments of Environmental Health, Agriculture and Public Health, the Mosquito Research and Control Unit and the Health Services Authority’s Laboratory, will produce a comprehensive plan of attack for both the best and worst case scenarios.
Related Videos
