by Stephanie Croston

    Although a pandemic flu has not been diagnosed to date, the possibility does exist.
     So what happens if a pandemic is declared? How will the city and its businesses keep functioning? What are ways to limit the spread of the virus? How will people deal with possible shortages of food, gasoline or medicines?
     Health departments across the state are working with local entities to help develop plans to implement if a pandemic happens.
     Laura McDougall of the Four Corners Health Department said town hall meetings scheduled around the region are designed to help build those plans. Two meetings are planned for Seward County-one at the Seward Civic Center on Monday, Sept. 25, at 6:30 p.m. and one at the Milford Fire Hall on Monday, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m.
     Every year, Nebraska sees an outbreak of seasonal influenza, for which shots are given. It's considered an epidemic, and people develop immunity for the virus and its mutations. A pandemic is a virus that has never been seen before, McDougall said.
     "It's caused when there's no immunity in the population," she said, adding that pandemics were recorded in 1918, 1957 and 1960.
     Scientists are watching the H5N1 virus or bird flu very closely, she said. It hasn't reached pandemic stage yet because a virus "has to be able to keep infecting people," she said.
     The scheduled town hall meetings will help identify critical infrastructure in the county and consider the unique populations in Seward County, including students at both Concordia University in Seward and Southeast Community College in Milford.
     A panel that includes Gary Petersen, county emergency manager, Roger Reamer, Memorial Health Care Systems administrator, Wendy Elston, county attorney, and John Townsend of Concordia University will discuss some of the plans already in place and answer questions from the public.
     "Our focus is to get the pieces prepared," McDougall said.