‘NMI remains bird-flu free’

The Department of Public Health said there has been no suspected case of bird flu in the CNMI, as the World Health Organization reported the number of human deaths related to the influenza virus at 68.

Public Health medical director Richard Brostrom said his office has been coordinating with the Department of Lands and Natural Resources, which reportedly declared no avian influenza cases on the CNMI poultry flocks.

Brostrom also said there is still no finding that the dreaded flu virus, which has killed millions of bird populations and made many people ill, has mutated into another form that could result into human-to-human transmission.

“We are actively embarking on a public education campaign to help answer questions for the community about regular flu and a potential problem with bird flu,” Brostrom said.

Brostrom explained that bird flu has the same symptoms associated with regular flu for the first few days, but people infected with the avian influenza virus usually recover right away.

“Bird flu causes a more severe pneumonia that sometimes doesn’t get better even though good medicine is given,” he said.

The public health medical director urged the public to maintain good hygiene and wash their hands often. Brostrom said children and adults who have flu should not go to school or work to avoid the spread of the disease and other symptoms such as cold.

Brostrom dismissed the alarm over the bird flu virus, saying that regular flu even proved to be fatal on humans. Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that approximately 36,000 Americans die from flu each year. At this time, the bird flu virus has been widespread only to bird populations, not on humans, with WHO reporting only about 133 human cases so far.

Brostrom said the DPH has been closely tracking the worldwide situation of bird flu, receiving regular reports from WHO and the CDC. The public health medical director said he and CDC’s Dr. Mark Keim have prepared a pandemic flu response plan in case of an outbreak of regular or bird flu in the CNMI.

For regular flu, Brostrom disclosed that over 1,000 influenza shots have been given to certain individuals who are considered prone to acquire the disease since the Public Health Department announced the campaign in late October. Some 1,000 doses more of the flu vaccine would be arriving soon in the CNMI, he added.

The department targets high-risk individuals to take the shots, even as Brostrom disclosed that flu cases in the CNMI has been dropping. Citing CDC guidelines, the department said high-risk patients include all adults with ages 65 and over; people whose ages range from six months to 64 years old, who have underlying chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, severe asthma and cancer; and pregnant women.

Additionally, the CDC considers children under 2 years old as high-risk individuals; the CDC said those children have one of the highest rates of hospitalizations due to flu complications. The CDC also advised that people who live with or take care of those with flu should get vaccinated.

Since October, the DPH has advised high-risk individuals to take flu shots in public and private health clinics. Brostrom said flu shots are free for children, while adults are usually charged a minimal fee.