Fact Sheets
What is Pandemic influenza?
An influenza pandemic is a global outbreak of disease that occurs when a new influenza A virus appears or “emerges” in the human population, causes serious illness, and then spreads easily from person to person worldwide. Pandemics are different from seasonal outbreaks or “epidemics” of influenza. Seasonal outbreaks are caused by subtypes of influenza viruses that already circulate among people, whereas pandemic outbreaks are caused by new subtypes, by subtypes that have never circulated among people, or by subtypes that have not circulated among people for a long time. Generally we all get some level of immunity to the different subtypes circulating each season, as the subtypes are very similar. In pandemic influenza, an entirely new subtype appears and we have no inherent immunity. Past influenza pandemics have led to high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss.
The need for a strategic plan
Why do companies need to develop a strategic response?
- To protect your business, and ensure business continuity
- To protect your staff
- To minimise the impact of an influenza pandemic on your company
Nobody can accurately predict when an influenza pandemic will occur, however there is expert agreement that it will occur. It is 37 years since the last one, and the current outbreaks of avian influenza greatly increase the chance of a new pandemic.
As with all contingency planning, establishing a company wide strategic response for pandemic influenza is important, and generally should follow the same process. The response should be consistent with the national pandemic plan, and should seek to identify risk, implement specific risk reduction, and define emergency responses. The plan should help guide the organisation through a changing work environment should a pandemic occur.
It is likely that a pandemic would last 2-3 months, and during that phase large scale social and community disruption would occur. It is possible that only essential services would be available during some or all of this time, and many non-essential services will be unavailable for longer periods both before and after any initial phase of a pandemic. Part of the preventive action in the community will be to close non-essential services, schools, public transport etc.
