Public health concerns to be addressed at 2006 Winter Public Health Institute

How can health-care workers prevent the transmission of avian flu from animals to humans? What is the psychological impact of disasters and terrorism on families and communities?

These public health concerns and more will be addressed Jan. 2-7 at the 2006 Winter Public Health Institute in Gainesville. The institute is sponsored by the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

“We are very excited about our first joint venture with the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota,” said Mary Peoples-Sheps, Dr.P.H., director of UF’s public health programs. “We have an opportunity to build their experience with the institute concept in order to offer timely and important courses to public health practitioners.”

The institute is designed for professionals from public health and other health and human service organizations, including government agencies, private industry and graduate students in public health-related disciplines.

A course on avian flu taught by Marguerite Pappaioanou of the University of Minnesota and Paul Gibbs of UF will focus on biology, epidemiology, diagnosis, economics and prevention and control strategies for the virus.

“When you have a strain of flu with a 50 percent mortality rate, that’s really dangerous,” said Peoples-Sheps. “If you think of all of the people you’ve known in your whole life who have had the flu…relatively few people actually die from the disease. With this virus, the death rate could be much higher.”

Additional courses offered at the 2006 Winter Public Health Institute include behavioral health in disasters, risk communication and food safety, and field investigation response. Content emphasizes theory to practice with opportunities for intensive, interactive classroom sessions, discussion groups, case studies, simulations and field trips.

A guest lecture, “It’s All About Human and Animal Health: Addressing Emerging Public Health Issues at the Interface of People, Wildlife and Domestic Animals,” presented by William Hueston, D.V.M., Ph.D., will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Jan. 6 in Room G101 of the HPNP Complex on UF’s campus and is free and open to the public.

For more information on the institute, visit www.wi.phhp.ufl.edu.