Centre Region COG
Office of Emergency Management

2643 Gateway Drive, Suite 3  ●  State College, PA 16801  ●  (814) 235-7838

 

 

 

The following update from the Governor’s office contains important information about Pennsylvania’s preparedness for an avian flu pandemic:

 

 

I am pleased to announce the newest source of information to help you and your constituents prepare for an influenza pandemic – the new Pennsylvania Pandemic Preparedness website, www.pandemicflu.state.pa.us.

 

The website features answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about avian and pandemic influenza on every page, such as the reason why there is concern about H5N1 avian flu, what Pennsylvania is doing to prepare and what individuals can do to prepare themselves.  You will also find fact sheets and planning checklists that you can print and distribute in your community.

 

The launch of this new website is just in time for the national broadcast of the ABC movie Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America, a fictional story about what happens when an influenza pandemic reaches the United States.  The movie will air on your local ABC affiliate on Tuesday, May 9th from 8-10 p.m., and has the potential to raise questions and concerns from your constituents.  To help ease their concerns and provide them with the facts, here are some things you can tell them:

 

The ABC movie, Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America, is entertainment, not fact.  The events in the movie should not be taken as fact or a true prediction of what a flu pandemic would look like.

If they have concerns, they can call the Department of Health’s toll-free hotline, 1-877-PA-HEALTH.  The hotline will have extended hours on Tuesday, May 9th from 5 p.m. to midnight in order to help citizens who have questions about the movie.  The hotline is regularly staffed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

They may be able to find answers to many of their questions on the new Pennsylvania Pandemic Preparedness website at www.pandemicflu.state.pa.us.

 

Pennsylvanians should be assured that state agencies are working very closely with local governments, health care providers, the agricultural community, businesses, schools and community organizations to plan and prepare for a flu pandemic.  However, every citizen should be thinking about what they can do to prepare themselves and their family.  You can help them find out how by guiding them to www.pandemicflu.state.pa.us.  Together, we can make Pennsylvania safer, healthier and more prepared for a pandemic.

 

Lance Simmens

Special Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs

Governor Rendell