Information and Advice

What’s all the panic about?

The concern is that the bird flu virus will mutate and develop the ability to mix with human flu viruses and create a pandemic.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is the H5N1 strain of the virus that has the unique ability to jump the species and cause death in people. WHO have also stated that the world is closer than it has ever been to a new pandemic outbreak.

How can it be caught?

Currently bird flu can be spread from bird to bird to humans, through ingestion or inhalation. There is no firm evidence yet that the virus has acquired the ability to pass easily from human to human. However, once the virus mutates into a strain that will pass from person to person, it will be highly contagious in the same way that flu is. The virus will be carried via large droplets, which are generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Transmission may also occur through direct contact with infectious (wet) respiratory secretions. For example by touching: door handles, lift buttons, shared telephones, stairwell railings, and keyboards, that have deposits of infected droplets on their surfaces, and then making hand-to-face contact.

What are the symptoms?

Flu like – coughing, sneezing, aching.

What is a pandemic?

Epidemics of ‘ordinary flu’ occur seasonally, every year around the world. An epidemic is a widespread outbreak in a single community or region. A pandemic, however, occurs on a much greater scale, spreading around the world and affecting many hundreds of thousands of people across many countries.

Hygiene

Take extra care to wash and dry hands after going to the bathroom.

Use disinfectant hand wipes. Provided in the CRG Healthcare Bird Flu Kit.

Make sure faces are properly covered when sneezing or coughing.

Use disposable tissues to cough and sneeze into.

Wash and dry hands after sneezing or coughing or after touching surfaces that may have been contaminated.

Activities which require hand-to-face contact such as eating, smoking, combing hair, increase the potential risk of contamination. Hands should always be washed before and after any hand-to-mouth contact.

Social Distancing

Stay more than one meter away from people who are sick.

People with flu symptoms should be sent home or to a medical centre.

Enable people to work from home or in more isolated areas.

Avoid crowded places or large gatherings of people – eg meetings, communal areas, and busy public transport.

Avoid visiting or having contact with people with the influenza.

Front desk staff should have a protective barrier such as Perspex or glass.

Surroundings

Wear gloves in public places. Provided in the CRG Healthcare Bird Flu Kit.

Wear a mask to prevent saliva droplets spreading. Provided in the CRG Healthcare Bird Flu Kit.

Any mask should be disposed of as soon as it becomes moist after coughing or sneezing or from the breath after a period of use.

Use disposable tea towels and hand towels.

Wipe down work stations with disinfectant wipes. Provided in the CRG Healthcare Bird Flu Kit.

Do not share telephones.

All internal spaces should be well ventilated. Preferably with fresh air by opening windows or properly designed and maintained air conditioning systems.

According to the Ministry of Health NZ, there is no current evidence that influenza can be spread through air conditioning units. However there is evidence to state that it can spread in an unventilated area.

CRG Healthcare Bird Flu Kit for businesses and organisations aim to keep businesses and the economy ticking.

Kit sizes can be adjusted to suit the size of the organistion. The standard kit will contain the following:

• Disposable gloves
• Safety Glasses
• Face Masks
• Pre Saturated Disinfectant Surface Wipes
• Hand Gel

Optional Extras are available as per our order form.