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Updated 05/11/06
This Web site is intended to keep the Dartmouth community updated on planning in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza. The College's Emergency Management Group has been monitoring this issue for several months, working closely with physicians at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), as well as local, state, and federal agencies.
Although there is some uncertainty within the scientific community as to whether the H5N1 avian flu virus, which has killed millions of birds, will mutate into a form that could pass easily from human to human, there is broad agreement that individuals and institutions should have plans in place to deal with the effects of a pandemic, should that become necessary.
There have been several outbreaks of pandemic flu in the last century. In 1918, the so-called "Spanish flu" killed over 500,000 people in the U.S. and millions worldwide. In 1957-58, an "Asian flu" pandemic caused some 70,000 deaths in the U.S. and, in 1968-69, the "Hong Kong flu" caused about 34,000 U.S. deaths. Health experts believe that we are now at the right time in the cycle for an outbreak of pandemic flu.
Increased urbanization and rapid travel would both contribute to a more effective spread of an influenza virus. Because residential college campuses are particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of flu and other illnesses, Dartmouth has established a planning process that attempts to put the College as far ahead of a pandemic curve as possible. This might mean anything from simply continuing to monitor the situation to distributing hand sanitization equipment to curtailing some College operations.
The Emergency Management Group will pay particularly close attention to the emergence of any human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus, since that would indicate that it might be mutating into a more dangerous and more effectively spread illness. Should there be such a case, the College will immediately consult with the appropriate agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the New Hamsphire Public Health Department, and others. Taking into account the lethality of the infection, its rate of spread, and the outbreak's impact on Dartmouth's ability to provide essential services, decisions may be made that involve curtailing academic activities. Those decisions will be based on serving the best interests of the campus and the surrounding communities, as well as larger efforts aimed at containing the spread of illness.
The Group's planning is built around a matrix that takes several complex factors into consideration. Those factors will be assessed as events warrant and news and updates will be found on this Web site, should they become necessary.
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