A sign at the entrance of Health Services instructs students who have recently traveled to a list of countries that includes Cambodia, Indonesia and Turkey to put on a mask if they are experiencing a fever or cough or have been in direct contact with uncooked poultry.
This is just one of the many ways the University is preparing for the possibility of an avian influenza pandemic. On Dec. 21, Walter Hunter, vice president for administration, sent an e-mail to the Brown community concerning bird flu and "steps the University is actively taking to prepare for the possibility of a flu pandemic." The e-mail told community members that the University had organized a task force of administrators and faculty who would monitor the status of the flu and work together to construct plans to protect the health of the Brown community.
"The way we've tried to work out the planning is to anticipate what we would do at various levels of threat," Hunter told The Herald. Hunter, along with other University officials, including Edward Wheeler, director of health services, attended a flu pandemic conference called by Governor Donald Carcieri '65 on Jan. 13.
"The purpose was to let people know that the federal government has a plan being organized in states, and (within) states they want businesses to develop plans as well," Wheeler said, adding that Brown is considered a business in this case.
Four components of pre-paredness and response actions were reviewed at the January conference: surveillance of the virus, stockpiling of anti-virals and vaccines, a strong network of federal, state and local preparedness and further development of public educa-tion and communications that will keep citizens informed.
Wheeler said the University's plans are very similar to those of government officials. "We're preparing locally but may get told to do something differently by the state or federal government," he said. Wheeler's focus includes medical tasks such as the University's plans to buy extra intravenous supplies, masks and gowns. He is also working to identify what space could be used if a large part of the community needed care.
In an extreme case, Brown could be directed to close and send any medical professionals to other places where they could be more helpful, Wheeler said. However, because various factors could come into play, Hunter said it would be very difficult to determine what circumstances would warrant closing the University.
"There are multiple factors that would be involved, and it's hard to guess what would lead to which actions at this stage of the game," said Selim Suner, the University's director of emergency preparedness and an assistant professor of emergency medicine.
The biggest factor that will affect Brown's response is the strength of the virus. "It could be as mild as the flu that people get seasonally, in which case they may require intravenous fluids at the most. If it's very virulent, like the kind seen in Asia or Turkey, treatment may require anti-viral medications," Suner said. He added that in more serious cases a bacterial infection of the lungs would accompany the virus, in which case the patient would need antibiotic treatment as well.
The University is also preparing for the potential occurrence of a pandemic by sending staff members to be trained to operate a shelter. The shelters will "help us if we need to be self-sufficient and run a shelter here," said Steve Morin, director of environmental health and safety.
The possibility that international students might be unable to travel home in the event of an outbreak is another issue the University is trying to prepare for.
"That is part of what we are working on in terms of our planning," Hunter said. "We need to anticipate the possibility that there may be some travel restrictions for students who wouldn't be able to go home."
The University has com-municated openly about pandemic flu with the Rhode Island state government, which recently released a revised plan on its Web site after the conference, Morin said.
According to the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and Human Services, a "sustained human-to-human transmission any-where in the world will be the triggering event to initiate a pandemic response by the U.S." Though such an event has not occurred, there are several tips that students are advised to follow for health purposes.
Suner said everyone should remember to always practice "good cough etiquette" and good hygiene. She also emphasized the importance of maintaining open commun-ication with family and friends.
"Communication is the first thing to go" in an emergency, she said. "It is very important to have a plan just in case." To preserve open communication lines, Hunter encouraged all students to keep their contact information current.
