AVIAN INFLUENZA AND PANDEMIC INFLUENZA

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To:	For Information only Chairman - Professional Executive Committee of PCT Consultants in Communicable Disease NHS Trust Chief Executives NHS Trusts - Medical Directors (England) NHST/FT/001 - NHS FOUNDATION TRUSTS (ENGLAND) - CHIEF EXECUTIVE NHST/FT/007 - NHS FOUNDATION TRUSTS (ENGLAND) - MEDICAL DIRECTOR PCT Chief Executives Primary Care Trusts - Directors of Public Health Primary Care Trusts - Medical Directors Public Health Link Regional Directors of Public Health SHA Chief Executives Strategic Health Authorities (England) - Directors of Public Health
Cc (Groups):	Territorial CMOs
Fax To:

From:	Sir Liam Donaldson - Chief Medical Officer - Department of Health
Date:	19 October 2005

Reference	CEM/CMO/2005/10
Category:	IMMEDIATE (cascade within 6 hours)

Title:	AVIAN INFLUENZA AND PANDEMIC INFLUENZA

Broadcast Content:

19th October 2005

Dear Doctor

AVIAN INFLUENZA AND PANDEMIC INFLUENZA

This letter is to give you further information on current concerns and plans to combat the threat of a pandemic influenza. It also gives you information which may be of help in answering questions or concerns that your patients may have.

As you will know, avian or bird ’flu is not the same thing as pandemic ‘flu. Outbreaks of avian ‘flu have occurred around the world over the last five years – mainly in the Far East but more recently in Europe – which have affected poultry, some wild birds and a small number of poultry workers or people in close proximity to sick birds.

The avian ‘flu virus (H5N1) cannot cause population-wide influenza infections because it does not currently have the capacity of easy transmission from person to person. For this to happen, one of the current avian ‘flu (H5N1) viruses would have to change its character whether by reassorting genetic material with a human influenza virus or by adapting (i.e. mutating).

This could happen resulting in a new pandemic of influenza. Alternatively, a new influenza strain unrelated to the current avian ‘flu virus could emerge and be the source of a pandemic. At some point, a ‘flu pandemic is inevitable, but we don’t know when – the last three were in 1918/19 (Spanish ‘flu), 1958 (Asian ‘flu) and 1968/9 (Hong Kong ‘flu).

You will be receiving an information pack in the next few days. Largely, you are asked to be aware of local plans for distribution of antivirals and vaccine, when it becomes available, which will be an important part of the contingency arrangements. You are specifically asked to please look at the capacity of your practice to respond to additional influenza cases in the light of the modelling data in the UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan and to discuss your own contingency arrangements with your Primary Care Trust.

You can find the latest version of the contingency plan at http://www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu This is simply an update of the version published in March 2005 which you were made aware of and to which many of you responded via the consultation process.

Finally, we have compiled a list of commonly asked questions (attached) which we hope you will find useful in responding to questions from patients and the public.

When you have had time to digest the material we are sending to you, please let us know whether there is any other information we can provide. As you can imagine, with the high level of public interest in this subject things are very hectic in the Department of Health at the moment, but I am very keen that you have all you need.

General practices and their primary care teams have been vital to the success of our public health programmes over the years. We do not thank you often enough for the superb work that you do and I want to say how grateful I am for your sterling help and support.

SIR LIAM DONALDSON
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Additional Information: