Hospital workers receive pandemic training

Staff at Johnstown's Memorial Medical Center are preparing for the worst-case scenario by conducting a five-day mock training session.

Staff kicked off the training by preparing for the bird-flu virus. The scenario was that the H5N1 virus was confirmed in Thailand, then a man who recently visited China came to Memorial Medical Center with respiratory symptoms similar to the H5N1.

In the scenario, the patient had also infected some of his family and co-workers. Next, the staff practiced for a massive influx of patients.

Hospital officials said the hypothetical situation prepares staff members for many components that come along with a pandemic.

Pandemics have broken out twice in the past 150 years: the Spanish flu in 1918 and the Asian flu in 1957.

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Philippines Bans U.S. Poultry After Bird Flu Virus Found In West Virginia Fowl

May 6, 2007 11:28 a.m. EST

Komfie Manalo - AHN Correspondent

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the Philippine government is imposing a ban on poultry importations from West Virginia in the U.S. after authorities there confirmed of an outbreak of the deadly H5N2 bird flu virus in a turkey farm.

Yap said the ban on imports include domestic and wild birds and their products, as well as day-old chicks and eggs from West Virginia. He said the ban is aimed at preventing the entry of avian influenza into the country.

The Philippines and Singapore are the only Asian countries that remain free of the deadly virus.

H5N2 virus is considered milder that the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has killed at least 172 out of 291 people known to have been infected since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

The Philippines is one of the major importers of poultry from the United States. The countries of Cuba, Japan, Russia and Taiwan have already imposed similar bans on poultry or poultry products from West Virginia.