Free access to assist H1N1 (swine flu) effort (2 messages)

["Diane Fagen" <DFagen@avma.org>]

1.Please feel free to access and share these resources from the 
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Putting H1N1 in context (presentation by Dr. W Ron DeHaven, 
Executive
Vice President)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4teUZgn9rNs

Central site for accessing information and links to the AVMA, 
CDC, USDA,
OIE, WHO, and AASV.
http://www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/new_virus/default.asp

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2.Free access to world-renowned public health database to assist 
swine-flu effort

CABI today has announced free access to its specialist Global 
Health database - the definitive database for public health 
information - www.cabdirect.org/globalhealth

Simultaneously CABI has developed a Swine flu 'dashboard' that 
brings together up-to-the-minute information on the virus 
(http://www.netvibes.com/cabialerts). The 'dashboard' includes 
resources from CABI and critical advice from key health 
organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and 
Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

"Our mission is to help people worldwide through the provision of 
scientific knowledge," said Dr Trevor Nicholls, CEO of CABI. 
"Today we are offering our most applicable resource, over the 
coming weeks, to help health professionals and others working on 
the front line."

In a fast changing sequence of events that has led to the rapid 
escalation of concern from WHO, and the reaction of national 
governments in considering their response to a possible influenza 
pandemic, release of the database is designed to give urgently 
needed support to those who need it most: scientists, medical 
professionals and health authorities investigating the causes and 
treatments of the disease and linkages to past outbreaks.

Influenza researchers urgently need to be able to refer back to 
previous scientific work in this area to understand the behaviour 
of previous strains of the virus and to research effective 
mechanisms for handling earlier outbreaks.

The Global Health database brings together global knowledge on 
every aspect of influenza since 1910. The knowledge it contains 
could provide a key weapon in health researchers' response in 
understanding and controlling the virus.

Much of the data in Global Health is derived from publications 
that have long since vanished. They tell us a great deal about 
past pandemics, from rates and patterns of transmission, 
duration, timing of epidemiological peaks, geographical 
distribution of the disease, government preparedness and 
quarantine provisions through to effects on different age and 
social groups, severity in developing versus developed countries, 
symptoms, causes of mortality (secondary problems, especially 
pneumonia, were devastating in the Spanish flu) and mortality 
rates.

By opening the door to a wealth of historical information on past 
pandemics, the Global Health database has the potential to reveal 
vital clues in the international fight against swine flu 
(influenza A - H1N1).

CABI Swine Flu Dashboard - www.cabdirect.org/globalhealth

Global Health database - http://www.netvibes.com/cabialerts

Media contact: Sarah Wilson, PR and Corporate Communications 
Manager, tel: +44 (0) 1491 829 361, mob: +44 (0) 7516 928 845, 
email: s.wilson@cabi.org

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