Swine Flu H1N1 Virus

What is The Center for Disease Control doing in response to the Swine Flu H1N1 Virus Outbreak?

The Center for Disease Control agency's goals are to reduce the transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the general public address the challenges posed by the new H1N1 virus. The Center for Disease Control is working with all state and local health departments to enhance surveillance in the U. S. and to collect and analyze data necessary to assess the impact of the H1N1 virus and determine which groups are at an increased risk of complications. In addition, The Center for Disease Control continues to issue new and updated interim guidance for clinicians, public health professionals and the public for the prevention and treatment of this new H1N1 virus.

To expand the national and international laboratory capacity for detecting novel H1N1 influenza, The Center for Disease Control has developed and distributed new influenza diagnostic kits and reagents to more than 350 laboratories, including laboratories in 131 countries. The Center for Disease Control's Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) continues to send antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to all 50 states and U.S. territories to help them respond to the Swine flu outbreak.

The United Sstates Government also is aggressively taking early steps in the process to manufacture a H1N1Swine flu vaccine, working closely with manufacturing companies. The Center for Disease Control has isolated the new H1N1 virus, made a candidate vaccine virus that can be used to create a vaccine, and has provided this virus to industry so they can begin scaling up for production of a vaccine, if and when necessary.

The Center for Disease Control works very closely with state and local officials in areas where human cases of new H1N1 Swine flu infections have been identified. The Center for Disease Control has deployed staff to several states to assist with the investigation of the impact of the H1N1 Swine flu, including the assessment of the severity of illness, how easily the virus spreads, and the amount of time people may be infectious. In states where EpiAid teams have been deployed, many epidemiological activities are taking place or planned including:

• Active surveillance in the many counties where infections in humans have been identified;
• Studies of health care workers who have been exposed to patients infected with the virus to see if they became infected;
• Studies of households and other contacts of people who were confirmed to have been infected to see if they became infected; and
• Study to see how long a person with the virus infection sheds the virus.

Local health officials have full control of SNS medicine once supplies are deployed to a city, state, or territory. Federal, state, and local community planners are working together to ensure that SNS medicines will be delivered to the affected area as soon as possible. Many cities, states, and territories have already received SNS supplies. After The Center for Disease Control sends medicine to a state or city, control and distribution of the supply of the medicine is at the discretion of that state or local health department. Most states and cities also have their own medicines that they can access to treat infected persons.