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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: February 17, 2003 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ~- <br />SUBJECT: Participation in the National Smallpox Immunization Plan and Protection for <br />Participating Employees <br />DEPARTMENT: Health PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Rosemary Summers, ext. 2411 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider participating in the smallpox immunization of essential County <br />employees in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention smallpox <br />immunization program and to provide specific protection as noted in the recommendations for <br />any employee who may experience illness as a result of the vaccine. <br />BACKGROUND: North Carolina Public Health law places the responsibility for addressing <br />communicable disease issues in a community with the public health entity in that county. In <br />Orange County, the Health Department provides those services. These responsibilities include <br />investigation, surveillance, prevention and treatment of specific communicable diseases, <br />including smallpox. <br />As part of emerging concerns regarding terrorism in the United States, the US Department of <br />Health and Human Services through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <br />recommended a three stage plan to be implemented nationally. Stage I of the plan is designed <br />to protect a small core of public health and hospital personnel who are most likely to encounter <br />the disease if cases arose in a community. Stage II of the plan includes immunizing those <br />needed for widespread vaccination efforts, all hospital staff, and other first responders such as <br />emergency medical staff, fire and rescue and law enforcement staff. There are no specific <br />plans to vaccinate more widely at this point in time. However, should an outbreak occur, <br />implementation of Stage I and II would provide a protected population to respond appropriately. <br />If the County does not have a core team protected, it would hamper a quick response to an <br />identified outbreak. The likelihood of an outbreak being an isolated incident would be small and <br />therefore response by surrounding counties that have protected teams would be difficult since <br />they would be responding to their own communities' needs. <br />The CDC has recently made smallpox vaccine available to states for Stage I of the <br />immunization program. North Carolina received its first shipment at the end of January and <br />