Why Plan?

A pandemic is the worldwide outbreak of a specific disease to which people have little or no immunity

To reduce the risk of business failure
To continue to provide services to customers/clients, especially for vulnerable populations
To provide a safer workplace
To be ready for a number of possible situations
To form part of a comprehensive business continuity plan (e.g. Facility, Information Technology, or Personnel disruption)
70% of voluntary sector groups serving high risk populations do not have the resources to do disaster planning
Only 50% of high risk voluntary organizations have a business continuity plan for a disaster and have no plans to continue essential community services
Vulnerable populations rely on nonprofit and voluntary organizations for a range of essential services which will be depended on during a health emergency

The economic impact of the H1N1 outbreak to the Mexican economy is expected to be over $2 billion
2,000 of the restaurants that shut down in Mexico during the outbreak are now closed
Canada’s business loss from SARS in 2003 was about $1.5 billion
SARS caused over 7,000 long term job losses in the Canadian tourism industry

Strenghtens the capacity of the neighborhood or community to adapt to change and respond to unanticipated events
Strengthens relationships between the community and governement
Establishes linkages between services providers (public, private and nonprofit sector) and builds community capacity (leadership, organizational development)

Occur in 2 or more waves, with each wave lasting 6 – 8 weeks
Subsequent waves can be more severe with higher severity of illness and mortality rates
A pandemic can occur in waves over an extended period of 9 to 18 months

Is a respiratory illness that affects the nose, throat and lungs and is similar to typical influenza
Is transmitted from person to person when the virus enters the nose, eyes or throat
The virus can also rest on hard surfaces like counters and doorknobs, and can be picked up on hands and transmitted to the respiratory system when someone touches their mouth and/or nose
Symptoms almost always include fever and cough, and possibly other symptoms like fatigue, muscle aches, sore throat, headaches, decreased appetite, runny nose and sometimes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
It is believed a person is infectious for one day before the onset of symptoms and continues for approximately 7 days after symptoms have started
Healthy adults 65 or older appear less likely to contract the virus
As seen in other pandemics, the second wave may be more severe than the first
Although we have come to the end of the second wave of H1N1, cases are still occurring around the globe and there is still a possiblity of a third wave in Canada. (Updated March 2010.)

This initiative was made possible thanks to funding by the Public Health Agency of Canada