NZ prepares bird flu response plan

Government agencies are preparing response plans to a potential bird flu pandemic reaching New Zealand using various scenarios including 20,000 people being hospitalised and more than one million needing medical assistance.

The Ministry of Health is co-ordinating the ongoing exercise and agencies will begin reporting back to government within the next few weeks.

Sector workgroups are being led by the Customs Service, Treasury, Department of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management, Police, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Social Development, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Crown Law.

Avian influenza has killed 57 people and infected another 112 in Asia since the end of 2003 and health experts fear a small mutation in the H5N1 virus could result in it becoming highly infectious and spark a global pandemic.

Director of Public Health Mark Jacobs said today said reporting by government agencies would help the Health Ministry examine the different responses required across different sectors and enable it to update the National Health Emergency Plan.

"Because no one knows the timing or size of the next influenza pandemic, we are using a range of different scenarios for planning purposes -- we need to cover as many possibilities as we can, to help prepare for pandemic influenza," he told NZPA.

It was impossible to know how many people might get sick or die "when" a pandemic influenza virus reached New Zealand because it depended on many factors such as the severity of the pandemic and who it affected most, Dr Jacobs said.

"However, research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal earlier this year suggested a flu pandemic could result in the deaths of up to 3700 New Zealanders, with as many as 20,000 people requiring hospital care and just over one million people needing to see a health professional.

"These figures on the possible extent of a future pandemic emphasise why the Government is taking pandemic preparedness so seriously."

The World Health Organisation has recommended governments stockpile supplies of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu -- the only treatment which has proven effective against bird flu in humans -- for essential workers.

The New Zealand Government has committed $26 million to buying 850,000 doses of Tamiflu -- enough for about one in five New Zealanders.

However, some New Zealanders -- particularly travellers and those going on to Southeast Asia -- are buying their own supply.

Tamiflu supplier Roche Products (NZ) Ltd said this week it was unable to keep up with demand.

Pharmacy Guild central representative Dave Ross said stocks had already run out and there was a waiting list of prescriptions to fill.

Tamiflu, which must be prescribed by a doctor, is not subsidised by the Government and costs $75. "People seem undaunted by price."

"I'm not sure what fear factor has gone out. Maybe people have pushed the panic button on this one a little early."

But Massey University professor of animal health Roger Smith said people could be wasting their money because it was unknown whether Tamiflu offered protection until clinical trials had been completed. In Asia, Tamiflu had no beneficial effect on some people.

The drug would only be effective if taken just after coming into contact with the virus, he said.

A bird flu pandemic could last for months but Tamiflu was only active for a few days in the body and few people could afford to take it consecutively.

Hygiene would be much more important than Tamiflu in an outbreak, Prof Smith said.

"Wearing a face mask and washing your hands are the two most important things you can do."

The Ministry advises the following measures to reduce the risk of infection in the event of a pandemic:

* regular handwashing with soap and thorough drying;

* covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and safely disposing of it in a rubbish bin;

* avoiding contact with others if you are sick and staying home from work to reduce the risk of passing on the infection;

* ensuring you have a week's supply of food and water in the house if you become sick and housebound; and

* having a supply of paracetamol to reduce the fevers of sick people.

- NZPA