Maine officials working to minimize swine flu impact
4/27/09 | 12 comments

Maine officials working to minimize swine flu impact


By Meg Haskell
BDN Staff

BANGOR, Maine - Swine flu has not yet been identified in Maine, but the state’s top public health official says it is just a matter of time.

“We won’t be able to prevent it from coming here,” said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaking to health care providers on Monday. “The genie is out of the bottle.”

The Maine CDC’s goal, she said, is to minimize the impact of swine flu in Maine.

The viral illness, which first was identified in Mexico late last week, now has spread to several countries including Canada. In Mexico, at least 149 deaths had been attributed to swine flu as of early Monday afternoon. In the U.S. and other countries, the illness generally has been less severe, but Mills said the severity is expected to worsen. The spreading outbreak prompted the United States to declare a national public health emergency on Sunday.

Like other forms of influenza, swine flu is spread through respiratory droplets released when infected people cough or sneeze. Symptoms include fever, respiratory congestion, headache and fatigue. Individuals who recently have traveled to Mexico, or who have come in contact with others who have traveled to Mexico, are at the greatest risk of contracting the illness.

Mills said the state has a well-developed plan to respond to a global outbreak of deadly influenza, an event that international public health officials have predicted for many years. Although the worsening swine flu outbreak may not become a full-blown pandemic, the Maine CDC has implemented an incident command system to help manage the event, is expanding the ability to test respiratory specimens, and is offering day-to-day updates on the outbreak to hospitals, doctors and other health care providers.

The federal emergency designation will release antiviral medicines, gloves, surgical masks and other supplies to all states from a national emergency stockpile, Mills said. The supplies are expected to arrive in Maine this week and will be distributed to Maine’s 39 community hospitals.

Washing hands frequently, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying away from others when ill are effective steps in avoiding and controlling the spread of all forms of influenza, Mills said.

On the Web: www.mainepublichealth.gov

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Comments
12 comments on this item
On 4/27/09 at 3:45 PM, peaches wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Glad to hear that Maine is working to protect us from this. They haven't got much help from Sen. Collins. While negotiating the economic stimulus bill with the White House in February, she insisted that funds for protection for pandemic flus (like the swine flu) be removed. She was so proud that she posted this on her web site:

"After meeting with Mr. Obama, Sen. Collins expressed concern about a number of spending provisions, including $780 million for pandemic-flu preparedness. 'I have no doubt that the President is willing to negtciate in good faith, that he wants to have a bipartisan bill,' Sen. Collins said."

At least she had it posted on her web site until it was removed this afternoon. I wonder why?

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On 4/27/09 at 4:08 PM, peaches wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Shorter version: Heckuva job, Susie!

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On 4/27/09 at 4:26 PM, KayInMaine wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Isn't Susan Collins great? I mean, really, not only did she take out the funding for pandemic flu but she also took out WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS AMONG OTHER THINGS!

Collins could care less about Mainers. All she cares about is the well-being of Bath Iron Works and not much else.

And Peaches? I'm not surprised Collins' office is CENSORING her website. I'm sure Lance Dutson is involved in this censoring, since it was someone like him who linked a porno site to one of my posts that she didn't like. Yeah, yeah, anyone who clicked on the title of the post I did in their "susan collins google alert" was directed to page LACED WITH ONE OF THE TOP 100 TROJAN VIRUSES ON THE NET. How do I know this? Because I clicked on the Google Alert and then my post title on this page and within days my computer was inoperable! Not only that, but when I went to have my computer de-bugged at Staples in Lewiston, there were 6 others that week in the area who got the same trojan on their computers!

Sen. Susan Collins has a Mafia here in Maine. She is dangerous in the sense that she has people who constantly protect her whether she's right or wrong. Don't be fooled by her. Personally, I don't trust her at all. Cutting out funding for anything that protects Mainers or the American people is nothing for her!

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On 4/27/09 at 4:32 PM, anne_of_mdi wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Thank goodness Maine's GOP Senator Collins had the wisdom to strip "flu epidemic preparedness funding" from that freakin stimulus package!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3_Ax3KVdp8&feature=player_embedded

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On 4/27/09 at 4:42 PM, peaches wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Right Anne, think of all the money that she saved us! And how much she is helping Maine by stripping aid to the sates from the stimulus bill. Think of that next year, people, when you lose your jobs because the state runs out of money.

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On 4/27/09 at 6:08 PM, Scintillate wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This is an engineered disease, these diseases from differnt animals do not mutate together. Read your science. How odd Canada and Mexico whose in between? H-m-m I think we should not do any more business with Mexico, they are send this is items madee in Mexico, like a well known light blub, well known name brand tools, taco's. Does anyone notice how all kinds of Mexican illegals are coming in and trying to take over and our government barely does anything and now they are carrying an engineered disease with them?

I had heard the New World Order program in part was to kill 80% of the population on earth. This is old news, Not saving middle class, oh no they are more educated and smarter and won't go for that. But save the very rich and the welfare to be their slaves.

I heard this when an American scientist engineered AIDS and HIV in Africa when I heard about this population culling. This was in a newspaper, he died from his own disease which is good news. This was about 20 years ago or less.They say history repeats it'self. Did everyone brush up on the history? Better start reading and get prepared.

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On 4/27/09 at 7:06 PM, Kevin_of_Bangor wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Scintillate did you have on your tinfoil hat as you typed that out? From what you typed you sound like someone that is very paranoid.

Yes, it will hit Maine sooner or later as cases have been reported in Nova Scotia but I doubt this is going to kill millions of people. Sadly some people will die from it within the United States but I'm not worried about becoming infected and if I do they will know how to treat it and life will go on. This is not the black plague that will wipe us off the map. It is very serious but I'm not going to go out and stock up on ammo, rations and fuel because of this outbreak.

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On 4/27/09 at 7:14 PM, peaches wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If any of you know what scintillate has been smoking, better stay away from it! What a nutcase.

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On 4/28/09 at 5:23 AM, Inland wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Considering what a swell job the Government has done with everything else, I'd be happy if the Government sat this one out and let let scientists handle it. Now if the Government was really interested, a little border control fits right in with what the Government is actually supposed to be doing.

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On 4/28/09 at 10:40 AM, peaches wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Inland, you should use your brain. Who are the scientists working on this? The CDC (Center for Disease Control). Who do they work for? You guessed it, the government. And a little border control? The cases in NYC were from students who had been to Mexico. Do you really think they drove all the way down there? So what would you do, stop all flights from Mexico? Guess what, it's too late. The flu is already here, in three or four states.

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On 4/28/09 at 12:12 PM, cracker wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Just wait until blueberry season!!!!! That's when we will be hit hard here in Maine

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On 4/28/09 at 5:52 PM, peaches wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Way to go cracker, show your racism. Let's keep those dirty Mexicans out of our nice clean Maine.

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