To: All DHS employees
From: Susan Allan, M.D., DHS public health director
Subject: Avian influenza communications
At 8 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, May 9, ABC television will air a made-for-TV movie titled "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America." The fictional drama follows an H5N1 avian flu outbreak from its origins in a Hong Kong market through its mutation into a pandemic virus that becomes transmittable from human to human and spreads rapidly around the world. (Information on the film is on the Web at  http://abc.go.com/movies/birdflu.html)
ABC News is also airing a three-part news series on its affiliated stations during the evening news broadcasts May 8-10. The May 8 report discussed how avian influenza travels, the May 9 report will address "The Movie: Fact or Fiction?" and the May 10 report will focus on vaccines.
The following information is intended to answer questions that the movie may generate:
Policy
The DHS area of expertise on this issue is on human health effects. Please keep in mind that this is a bird disease. Questions about the effects of avian influenza on the poultry industry or migratory birds and wildlife area management should be referred to agencies with the expertise to respond: the Oregon Department of Agriculture at (503) 986-4680 and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at (503) 947-6002.
Media Inquires
Media calls about the human effects of avian influenza should be directed to Bonnie Widerburg, DHS public health communications officer at (971) 673-1282.
Key Facts
"Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America" is a movie, not a documentary. It is a work of fiction designed to entertain and not a factual accounting of a real world event.
There is not an influenza pandemic in the world at this time.
The H5N1 avian influenza is almost exclusively a disease of birds.
The H5N1 virus has not yet been detected in the United States in either wild or domestic birds.
Should the H5N1 virus be detected in the United States, it does not mean the start of a human pandemic.
For more information on avian influenza, including information on public health and food safety, visit these Web sites:
http://www.avianflu.gov/
www.usda.gov/birdflu
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_influenza/
For more information on avian influenza or Oregon's planning efforts, please visit: http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/spotlight/panflusummit.shtml
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I've been looking for it and can't find it.
thanks