Press Releases
Year
Public Health and Parkland College To Stage Emergency Response Exercise
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2005
Contact
Diana Yates, Communications Coordinator
217-531-4275
Public Health and Parkland College To Stage Emergency Response Exercise
Event Will Simulate Emergency Medicine Dispensing Site; Other County Health Departments Will Participate
On Thursday, September 22, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, the Champaign County Public Health Department and Parkland College will stage an exercise designed to simulate an emergency medicine dispensing site. The event is part of a state-wide effort to plan and prepare for terrorist attacks or other public health disasters.
Nearly 100 staff members of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District will participate in the two-hour drill, along with staff from several other central Illinois health departments, the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Observers from Carle Foundation Hospital, local employees of the U.S. Postal Service and the University of Illinois will also attend.
No appointments have been scheduled at Health District offices on Thursday morning and all Public Health clinics will be closed during the drill.
The exercise is meant to prepare Public Health staff for any event that requires the distribution of medicine to large numbers of people. In such an event, health district employees would work with the county Emergency Management Agency to set up and staff one or more Medical Dispensing Sites. Thursday’s exercise will involve the distribution of antibiotics following the theoretical contamination of a local post office with anthrax.
Students from Parkland College will participate in the exercise, acting as local citizens coming to the dispensing site for medications. Public Health nurses will screen those arriving at the dispensing site for symptoms, medical complications or other factors that may influence their treatment options. The participants will complete consent forms and medical assessments and will be given (mock) antibiotics in pill form.
This event is meant to help Public Health staff train for any emergency that warrants the distribution of medications to large numbers of people in the community. It is the first such exercise for Public Health, and is expected to be a learning experience.
The formal exercise will run from 9 to 11 a.m. Media are asked to arrive no earlier 10:30 a.m. If you are with the media, please ask for Diana Yates. The event will be held at the Parkland College gymnasium.
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Rabid Fox Picked Up at Local Shopping Center
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2005
Contact
Diana Yates, Communications Coordinator
217-531-4275
Rabid Fox Picked Up at Local Shopping Center
Public Health Urges Champaign Residents to Vaccinate Pets and Watch for Potentially Rabid Wildlife
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District learned today that a rabid fox was recovered Tuesday at the Round Barn Shopping Center, in Champaign.
A police officer and a woman at the shopping center managed to subdue the fox until Animal Control could collect the animal. State laboratory tests today confirmed that the fox was infected with rabies.
Public Health officials are urging all Champaign area pet owners to observe the following basic precautions:
- Keep vaccinations up-to-date for all dogs, cats and ferrets. This will help protect your pets and your family from rabies.
- Keep your pets under direct supervision so they do not come into contact with wild animals. If your pet is bitten by a wild animal, seek veterinary assistance for the animal immediately.
- Call your local animal control agency to remove any stray animals from your neighborhood. They may be unvaccinated and could be infected.
- Spay or neuter your pets to help reduce the number of unwanted pets that may not be properly cared for or vaccinated.
For all residents:
- Enjoy wild animals (raccoons, skunks, foxes) from AFAR. DO NOT handle, feed or attract wild animals with open garbage cans or litter.
- Never adopt wild animals or bring them into your home. DO NOT try to nurse sick animals to health. Call animal control or an animal rescue operation for assistance.
- Teach children never to handle unfamiliar animals, wild or domestic, even if they appear friendly.
- Prevent bats from entering living quarters or occupied spaces in homes, churches, schools, and other areas where they might come into contact with people.
If you see raccoons, skunks, foxes or other wildlife in areas where they are not normally seen, or that are behaving in an aggressive manner, please call Animal Control at: 217-384-3798. The hours are Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. If you need to make a report at other hours you may call the non-emergency dispatch center at: 217-333-8911.
Fox with Rabies identified in Champaign County, September 2005
MEMORANDUM
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TO: |
Local Health Departments, Regional Offices of Illinois Department of Public Health, other agencies |
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FROM: |
Connie Austin, D.V.M., M.P.H., Ph.D. |
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DATE: |
September 16, 2005 |
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SUBJECT: |
Fox with Rabies identified in Champaign County, September 2005 |
On September 15, 2005, the Illinois Department of Public Health laboratory in Springfield reported that a fox from Champaign County tested positive for rabies. The fox was collected by Champaign County Animal Control. Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has reported that the fox was found wandering in broad daylight in a Champaign shopping center. The fox was staggering and aggressive as people approached and died shortly after capture.
This fox is the first terrestrial mammal (non-bat) testing positive for rabies in Champaign County since 1984 when a skunk tested positive. The last time a fox tested positive for rabies in the state was in 1989 in a fox from Kankakee County. Further testing to identify the rabies variant that affected the fox will be performed by the IDPH laboratory early next week. In addition, specimens from the fox brain will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for confirmation and further rabies variant typing.
Veterinarians in this area of the state in particular should consider the diagnosis of rabies in animals with consistent symptoms and arrange for testing as needed. They should also encourage rabies vaccination of dogs, cats and ferrets and consider vaccination of valuable livestock and horses. If veterinarians in this area hear reports of wild animals, such as foxes or skunks, acting abnormally they should report this to their local animal control agencies. This is also a good opportunity for veterinarians to review the rabies pre-exposure vaccination status of the staff in their clinic. Rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for those with appropriate pre-exposure rabies vaccination is far simpler than rabies PEP for those who have not previously received rabies vaccination.
In Illinois from January 1 through September 15, 2005, 40 animals have tested positive for rabies. The animals testing positive include 32 bats, 6 skunks, one cow and one red fox. The 6 rabid skunks and cow are from a three county area in north central Illinois (LaSalle, DeKalb and Lee Counties).
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