Pandemic fears raise public health awareness

Source: AWWA Streamlines Staff

With the heightened alert about the possibility of a swine flu pandemic and news outlets preparing tips for individuals to protect their health, AWWA is offering information about the safety of drinking water and resources for utility planning.

AWWA notes that the disease must be transmitted through person-to-person contact or contact with a contaminated surface. Water that has been treated through conventional disinfection processes does not pose a risk, even if the source water has previously come into contact with infected people or animals. This means that utilities practicing disinfection can assure their customers that treated water coming from the taps in homes and businesses is safe to drink.

Supporting the efforts of the media and the public health community on how to prevent the spread of the disease, AWWA has developed information aimed at water consumers at Drinktap.org, with links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) information on this topic.

The CDC has created multiple sites with information on symptoms, traveling and other topics regarding swine flu:

CDC, the Government of Canada, the Mexican Department of Health, and the World Health Organization are working closely together to assess and respond to the spread of swine flu.

WHO has raised the level of influenza pandemic alert to phase 4, which indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased, but not that a pandemic is inevitable. The decision was based primarily on epidemiological data demonstrating human-to-human transmission and the ability of the virus to cause community-level outbreaks, according to the WHO Web site.

Meanwhile, public health officials are working on developing a swine flu vaccine, though it would take six months for it to be readily available if conditions warrant its full production.

For utilities, now is a good time to revisit emergency plans that address staffing issues in the face of a pandemic. Many utilities developed these plans during the outbreaks of avian flu in 2003 – 2005.

Read more in the recent issue of AWWA Streamlines.