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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, January 16, 2005

Health chief keeps watch on diseases

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer

The SARS outbreak of 2003 showed how easy it is for a disease to spread in our modern world, the director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a visit here.

The ease of travel is all a part of the "global and very connected world in which we live," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, speaking Friday on "Health Protection in the Time of Terror" on the final day of the Hawai'i Bioscience Conference at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

That very connectedness offers public health officials other modern tools to quickly communicate risks, symptoms and then take fast action.

With SARS, some healthcare workers went to more than one hospital to work and spread the disease that way, she said. And some patients prompted other clusters when they were released from one hospital after their symptoms eased and then went to a different hospital when they realized later they were still sick.

Travelers who felt well enough to go home carried the illness to cities and countries worldwide, she said.

Today, Gerberding's federal agency and world health officials are closely watching cases of avian flu in Asia because of the potential for the rapid spread of such a disease.

"We're all in the Pacific Rim sitting on a potential health catastrophe in bird flu," she said. And Hawai'i has a special concern because of its location as a gateway to Asia.

She said the CDC has produced a small supply of avian flu vaccine and could work to produce more if needed as part of continuing preparedness.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.