Flu Pandemic Preparedness - Introduction
While few Canadians alive today remember the last major pandemic (1918-1919), pandemics have occurred throughout history, and there is now the potential that the H5N1 avian influenza (flu) could mutate to humans and cause another flu pandemic.
No one knows whether avian flu will mutate into a human-transmissible strain and if it does, when or where, or how dangerous the mutated form will be to humans.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "It may be years before a pandemic hits the world, and it may ultimately be sparked by a virus other than H5NI." It should be noted, however, that the WHO has identified six phases of a pandemic, and the H5N1 virus can be described as Phase 5: "Larger cluster(s) but human-to-human spread still localized, suggesting that the virus is becoming increasingly better adapted to humans but may not yet be fully transmissible (substantial pandemic risk).”
Whether or not the flu pandemic originates from avian flu, international scientists agree that a flu pandemic – the worldwide spread of a new strain of flu virus against which humans have little or no immunity – is inevitable.
Canada's experience with SARS in 2003 demonstrated how quickly and widely a flu virus can spread and provides some insight into the havoc a flu pandemic would create.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) have been assigned the lead in pandemic influenza planning in Canada. Six government working groups have been created to address gaps in preparedness:
- International Issues
- Federal Business Continuity and Human Resources
- Public Health and Emergency Management
- Communications
- Economic and Social Impact
- Private Sector
The mandate of the private sector working group is to establish partnerships with industry and industry associations to ensure a common information base and standardized approach to planning and preparedness, such as sharing information on business continuity planning (BCP). The 10 critical infrastructure sectors participating on the private sector working group are: energy and utilities; information and communications technology; finance; healthcare; food; water; transportation; safety; government; and manufacturing. CRFA is a member of the private sector working group.
The federal government, in conjunction with its provincial counterparts, has developed a plan that maps out how Canada will prepare for and respond to a pandemic influenza outbreak from a health perspective. The plan, which is updated regularly, provides information on the roles and responsibilities of those involved in a public health emergency – governments at all levels, public health officials and front-line health workers. The goal of the government plan is to minimize serious illness and death and ease any social or economic disruption that might be caused by a massive outbreak of the disease. While this plan is very health focused, the federal government, in conjunction with the provinces, is also preparing a comprehensive pandemic plan that will look at all other issues including critical infrastructure, coordination with government departments and outreach to the private sector.
Preparedness is the key to an effective response and mitigating the impacts of a pandemic. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association has developed this guide with the objective of minimizing illness among foodservice industry workers and customers and mitigating the business/economic disruption of a flu pandemic to the foodservice industry.