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  • New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza-like outbreak



    Media Release
    30 March 2009

    New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

    New Zealand health authorities are working closely with their counterparts in Tokelau to help manage an influenza outbreak affecting more than one in every ten people on the three remote atolls of Tokelau.

    The New Zealand territory with only slightly more than 1500 residents spread over three atolls more than 500 km north of Apia has around 150 people reported ill with influenza.

    Health services on each atoll have acted swiftly to limit the spread of the disease. The school on Atafu, the northern-most atoll, has been closed, public gatherings halted, sick people advised to stay home and hand washing messages reinforced.

    Wellington public health services and Capital and Coast Health have been working with the NZ Ministry of Health and WHO providing advice and additional health supplies such as vaccines, which along with antiviral supplies will be shipped to Tokelau on the overnight boat trip from Samoa. The Wellington-based Office of the Administrator of Tokelau is also actively involved with coordination and support.

    Nursing support from Wellington has been offered to Tokelau and if required they would need to fly to Apia in time to catch the fortnightly boat from Apia to Tokelau as the atolls have no air service.

    Ministry of Health officials are closely monitoring the situation and working with the Minister of and Director for Health for Tokelau – both of whom are based in Samoa.

    Background:
    The first case was reported on Tokelau on 16 March.
    The number of people reported sick with influenza type symptoms on Sunday 29 March was 147.
    Confirmation of the type of influenza is expected to take some time for swabs to be sent to New Zealand for testing.



    For further information, please contact Media Advisor Michael Flyger: 04 496 2265 or 027 434 6878

  • #2
    Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

    HI

    Does anyone have a case definition at this stage?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

      Welcome RiSi!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

        Thanks, great to be here!

        My main focus is on the pandemic side but thought I'd tap into this topic for a colleague.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

          Welcome RiSi

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

            Posted at 01:41 on 31 March, 2009 UTC

            Children in Tokelau have been worst affected by a flu outbreak which has so far infected 10 percent of the islands’ population.

            The Ministry of Health says about 150 people, most of them children, have contracted the influenza-like virus.

            A Wellington Hospital Nurse, Bronwen Markham, who’s heading to Tokelau says children are more prone to contract the illness because of their hygiene habits.

            She says she and an oficial from the World Health Organisation are expected to arrive in Tokelau by Thursday to deliver about 1,400 flu vaccinations.

            News Content © Radio New Zealand International
            PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand

            Radio New Zealand, RNZ, Public Radio, News, Current Affairs, Audio, Podcasts

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

              Posted at 21:26 on 30 March, 2009 UTC
              New Zealand health authorities are working with Tokelau’s officials to manage an influenza-like outbreak affecting more than one in every ten people on the country’s three atolls.
              Tokelau has about 1500 residents spread over three atolls, and around 150 people have reported ill with influenza.
              The school on Atafu, the northern-most atoll, has been closed, public gatherings halted, sick people advised to stay home and hand washing messages reinforced.


              Dr Fran McGrath, from New Zealand’s Ministry of Health says the symptoms are a fever, malaise, and muscle aches.
              “But because the children haven’t been exposed to it before then there’s a large number of them are picking it up. A small number appear to be needing antibiotics but but the majority of children appear to be, it just appears to be a normal course of a flu-like illness really.”
              Dr Fran McGrath says New Zealand health services and the World Health Organisation are providing advice and additional health supplies such as vaccines, which along with antiviral supplies will be shipped to Tokelau on the overnight boat trip from Samoa.
              They have also offered nursing support.
              News Content © Radio New Zealand International
              PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                Tiny Tokelau battles flu outbreak

                By New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie

                Ten per cent of the population of the tiny Pacific island nation of Tokelau is sick as the island battles an influenza outbreak.

                Tokelau is 500 kilometres north of Samoa, and has a population of just 1,500.

                New Zealand health professionals will tomorrow make the 26-hour boat journey from Samoa to Tokelau.

                Deputy director of public health, Fran Mcgrath, says the flu has hit locals hard.

                "This is an isolated population so there is not a high level of immunity," he said.

                Four children are in hospital, and schools have been shut and village chiefs have been advised to cancel all public gatherings.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                  Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7973531.stm

                  Flu epidemic hits Pacific island

                  Medical officials from New Zealand are trying to get aid to the remote South Pacific islands of Tokelau, which have been hit by a flu epidemic.

                  The tiny archipelago, where one in 10 people are sick, is a 26-hour boat ride from its nearest neighbour, Samoa.

                  Most of the 150 people affected are children. Four have been hospitalised so far, according to media reports.

                  Public gatherings have been cancelled, schools closed, and sick people have been told to stay home.

                  Health officials from New Zealand and the World Health Organization are due to arrive with vaccines on Wednesday.

                  "This is an isolated population so there is not a high level of immunity," New Zealand's deputy director of public health, Fran Mcgrath, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

                  Tokelau is made up of three coral atolls which have no airport, no roads and no capital city.

                  The territory is just 4.7 sq miles (12 sq km), lying halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.

                  Officials say they will deliver about 1,400 flu vaccinations and obtain sample swabs to try to identify the strain of the influenza virus.

                  Wellington has governed Tokelau since 1926, and gives it substantial aid.

                  The people of Tokelau have rejected self-government in two referendums over the past three years.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                    Severe flu outbreak ravages Tokelau

                    The Dominion Post Last updated 05:00 31/03/2009

                    <!-- Begin relevant offers adspace--> <script>add_batch_ad('adRELEVANTOFFER1', '240x45_SPECIALOFFER','RELEVANTOFFER1');</script>


                    <!-- -normal_story_landing- --> Wellington health authorities are sending vaccinations and other health supplies to remote Tokelau after a flu outbreak has struck the population hard.
                    Public gatherings have stopped in the New Zealand territory and sick people have been told to stay at home, the Health Ministry in New Zealand says.
                    By Sunday, nearly 150 people had been reported sick with influenza 10 per cent of the population, which numbers about 1500 residents over the three atolls. The first case was reported on March 16.
                    A ministry spokesman said the strain had not yet been identified.
                    Capital and Coast District Health Board is sending a senior nurse to act as an adviser. Bronwen Markham, who works as a project manager at Wellington Hospital, flies to Apia today.
                    Influenza experts in New Zealand have warned this flu season could be the deadliest in years.
                    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/2302695/Severe-flu-outbreak-ravages-Tokelau

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                      Updated map

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                        <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100&#37;"><tbody><tr> <td class="DetaildTitle"> News Asia-Pacific </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10">
                        </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="DetaildTitleGolden" valign="top"> Flu virus hits South Pacific atolls </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="5"> <!---->
                        </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <table style="display: inline;" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="height: 14px;" align="right" valign="top" width="100%"> <table style="width: 33px; border-collapse: collapse;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">
                        </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> New Zealand health officials have despatched medical aid to the Tokelau islands, a tiny isolated cluster of atolls in the South Pacific, to try to stem a growing flu outbreak.
                        So far 10 per cent of the 1,500 population on the New Zealand island territory have reportedly fallen sick, most of them children.
                        The Tokelau islands are made up of three tiny atolls located about 500km north of Samoa, and some 4,000km from New Zealand's capital, Wellington.
                        The flu epidemic has forced schools to close and public gatherings to be cancelled, officials in Wellington said on Wednesday.
                        Michael Flyger, a spokesman for New Zealand's health ministry, said latest figures showed that nearly 150 people have been reported sick, but he said the outbreak was not yet at "crisis point".
                        He told the Associated Press that it was "very, very unlikely" that the unknown flu strain had originated from the atolls.
                        "It's most likely a strain that has existed previously and has been brought onto the atolls by somebody returning or visiting," added Flyger.
                        Flyger said that being a small and isolated population, the inhabitants "tend to be what we call immunologically-naive, they don't get a lot of exposure to this sort of stuff so it can infect them a little more easily".
                        The first flu case was reported on March 16 and the outbreak had since spread to all three atolls, stretching the health resources of a few doctors and nurses "scattered around".
                        Medical response

                        <table style="width: 33px; border-collapse: collapse;" align="right" border="0" bordercolor="#ffffff" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center">Isolation has made the Tokulau islanders are vulnerable to infections [GALLO/GETTY]</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> New Zealand authorities have already sent a nurse, vaccinations and other medical supplies by boat from Samoa, and are expected to arrive by this weekend. Fran McGrath, New Zealand's deputy director of public health, told Australian media that the government and the World Health Organisation had responded to residents' requests for medical assistance.
                        She said the response team will help to determine the source of outbreak and infection, as well as clinical and logistical support.
                        McGrath said Tokelau's isolated population does not have a high level of immunity to even the common flu or other viral conditions.
                        The three Tokelau atolls - Atafu, Fakaofu, Nukunonu - have no capital, airfield, sea port, cars or television.
                        Polynesian village chiefs take turns as national leader for a year.
                        Tokelau's residents are New Zealand citizens who twice in recent UN-supervised votes have declined independence.


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                        </td></tr></tbody></table>

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                        • #13
                          Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                          Updated map

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                            NZ sends health officials to flu-affected Tokelau

                            <!--headlinesBar--><!--headlinesRelated-->
                            Last Updated: 21 hours 39 minutes ago
                            A small group of New Zealand health officials are on their way to Tokelau to help the tiny island nation cope with its worst health crisis in 30 years.

                            About 10 per cent of the 1,500 people living there are reporting flu-like symptoms.

                            All public gatherings have been cancelled and schools closed.

                            The World Health Organisation and New Zealand's ministry of health have been monitoring the outbreak and say it's likely it was started by a visitor carrying the virus.

                            The Deputy Director of Public Health in New Zealand, Fran McGrath, says a number of health professionals from New Zealand have now embarked on a 26-hour boat journey from Samoa to reach Tokelau.

                            "Given that there are a couple of nurses on each of the atolls and that's the main health work force, supported by some hospital aid and - on two of the atolls, a doctor - they're quite stretched," she said.

                            "They requested some support and that's what the WHO and NZ Health Service are providing."

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: New Zealand assisting with managing Tokelau influenza outbreak

                              <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04010901/Flu_Tokelau.html"> commentary </a>

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