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As of last week, according to the World Health Organization, more than 207 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including more than 7820 deaths. In the United States and Canada, influenza transmission remains very active and geographically widespread. It's difficult to say what the winter will bring, particularly since seasonal flu outbreaks have yet to begin. To be best prepared, you should take heed of the advice in the following articles.

Small businesses need to have flexible plans to respond to flu outbreaks. (Item #1)   This kit can help you follow the CDC's guidance for businesses for the 2009-2010 season. (Item #2)   A continuity expert offers her thoughts on the flu pandemic. (Item #3)  

A pandemic flu checklist from the state of Arizona can be helpful to all organizations. (Item #4)   Another checklist from the Red Cross is in poster form, handy for posting. (Item #5)   The emergence of flu in the 1918 pandemic may be helping weaken the impact of today's H1N1 flu. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing about your concerns with regards to business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, please email me at [email protected]

Best Regards,

Bob Mellinger
President
Attainium Corp

Quote of the Week

"Any community that fails to prepare with the expectation
that the federal or state government will rescue them will be tragically mistaken."
- Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary -

Articles

1. Planning for 2009 H1N1 Influenza: A Preparedness Guide for Small Business
As we face the possibility of a wider H1N1 influenza outbreak, it is difficult to predict how the virus may or may not change. The severity of illness that 2009 H1N1 influenza flu will cause (including hospitalizations and deaths) or the amount of illness that may occur as a result of seasonal influenza during the 2009-2010 influenza season cannot be predicted with a high degree of certainty. Therefore, small businesses should plan to be able to respond in a flexible way to varying levels of severity and be prepared to take additional steps if a potentially more serious outbreak of influenza evolves during the fall and winter.
http://www.flu.gov/professional/business/smallbiz.html

2. Preparing for the Flu: A Communication Toolkit for Businesses and Employers
The purpose of "Preparing for the Flu: A Communication Toolkit for Businesses and Employers" is to provide information and communication resources to help businesses and employers implement recommendations from CDC's Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to the 2009-2010 Influenza Season.
http://www.flu.gov/professional/business/toolkit.pdf

3. H1N1 Pandemic: What Every Organization Needs to Know
While the Novel A (H1N1) influenza virus was off the radar for many North American organizations over the summer, business continuity experts warn that organizations must be prepared for the virus to return with a vengeance during the fall flu season. So, what do we do when the Swine Flu returns? We submitted several key questions to Regina Phelps, an internationally recognized expert in the field of emergency management and continuity planning. Her answers are in the article at the link below.
http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=1679

4. Arizona State Agency Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Checklist
Although prepared for Arizona state agencies, this checklist can be helpful to organizations of all types. The checklist can help you become better prepared to deal with the magnitude of an influenza pandemic.
http://www.azdhs.gov/pandemicflu/pdf/az_government_agency_checklist.pdf

5. Be Red Cross Ready -Flu Checklist
Another checklist - this from the Red Cross - in poster form might be useful to post in your office.
http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/Preparedness/SeasonalFluChecklist.pdf

6. Pandemic Payoff from 1918: A Weaker H1N1 Flu Today
Although the swine flu outbreak of 2009 is still in full swing, this global influenza epidemic, the fourth in 100 years, is already teaching scientists valuable lessons about pandemics past, those that might have been and those that still might be. Evidence accumulated this summer indicates that the novel H1N1 swine flu virus was not entirely new to all human immune systems. Some researchers have even come to see the current outbreak as a flare-up in an ongoing pandemic era that started when the first H1N1 emerged in 1918.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pandemic-payoff