Funding from CDC's Public Health Preparedness Cooperative Agreements has allowed state and local health agencies to enhance the capacity of their public health systems to respond to public health threats, including pandemic influenza. All states have emergency plans for responding to an influenza pandemic. All states have reviewed their public health legal authorities pertaining to isolation and quarantine.

We are more prepared than ever. Maryland has been working to prepare for a pandemic influenza outbreak since 1999. We were one of the first states to develop a pandemic influenza plan. However, we can always continue to improve preparations through better education of citizens, training of health care professionals, and medical innovation. Preparing for a pandemic is a big task that requires everyone’s participation.

We distributed a brochure to some 25000 state and local government offices outlining our Initiative, our goals and how we hope to work together at the state and/or community level. This brochure and our Web site will list the kinds of specific actions we hope to see within communities across America.

Federal, State, and local health agencies are making plans to prepare for, respond to, and contain an outbreak of pandemic flu.

Influenza pandemics are caused by the emergence of a virus that is "novel" (brand new) or radically different from flu viruses that circulated previously. Because people have no or little natural resistance to a new virus, and there is no readily-available vaccine, influenza pandemics often result in much more severe illness and death. Seasonal" influenza outbreaks are caused by small changes in the common influenza viruses.

A pandemic flu is a world wide outbreak of a new flu virus. Pandemic flu outbreaks have occurred only three times in the past century. The CDC, state and local health officials are watching the current pandemic flu disease. There are trained medical people in place to watch the region and to give flu shots once it is made available.

First, do not feed waterfowl – it is against the law! When someone feeds these birds, large flocks congregate, resulting in overcrowding and making it easier for diseases to spread among the flock. The large amounts of waste can also impact water quality, resulting in beach closures and shellfish bans. Stay informed. Follow instructions from public health officials, who will communicate often through the statewide and local television stations, newspapers, and radio stations.

New human flu viruses can arise from bird flu viruses that then change to a form that can infect humans and spread readily from person to person. Current bird flu outbreaks in Asia, Europe and Africa are caused by a type of flu virus called "H5N1." Human infections and deaths due to the H5N1 virus have occurred, although the virus has at this time not developed the ability to pass easily from person to person and cause outbreaks in humans.

Local educational agencies apply to the state for authorization. Each state has its own application. The processes are usually fairly simple. A list of contacts for your state can be found in this booklet.

When it was first established as a county in 1912, Pinellas County consisted mainly of citrus orchards, which used the local railroad to ship fruit to the rest of the nation. The county's few residents lived in small, isolated towns along the tracks. Following World War II, when northern retirees began to flock to the area, the towns expanded and began to grow together.

A state or local government must eliminate any eligibility criteria for participation in programs, activities, and services that screen out or tend to screen out persons with disabilities, unless it can establish that the requirements are necessary for the provision of the service, program, or activity.

Most State and many local governments have codes of conduct, as well as other components to their ethics programs, that govern the conduct of their employees. One source of information about who to contact about ethics matters in your State or city is the Council on Governmental Ethics Law (COGEL).

Private individuals may bring lawsuits to enforce their rights under title II and may receive the same remedies as those provided under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including reasonable attorney's fees. Individuals may also file complaints with eight designated Federal agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation.

Providing unequal, less effective, different or separate aids, services or benefits; providing services through an agency which discriminates; or denying the right to participate in planning or advisory boards are discriminatory. Using criteria or methods of administration, site selection for facilities, and licensing or certification which would have the effect of discrimination on the basis of disability violates the ADA. Services must be provided in the most integrated setting possible.

Participation by local governments is voluntary. Some licensing agencies are required to use TexasOnline for a profiling system containing information about their licensees or to implement a system that allows the licensees to renew licenses online. Additionally, SB 187 requires that state agencies consider the use of TexasOnline for services provided via the Internet, including:

The Department of State and Deparment of Environmental Conservation have guidance documents for local officials on how to comply with SEQRA. For more information, CLICK here.

Yes. The ACAP System is focused on fulfillment of the FISMA and OMB Circular No. A-130 requirements, which have been defined to apply to State and local governments and agencies: Thus, because FISMA applies to both information and information systems used by the agency, contractors, and other organizations and sources, it has somewhat broader applicability than that of prior security law.

Applicants are encouraged to contract for shorter renewable lease period (e.g. 3 months) to allow evacuees maximum flexibility in making long-term housing decisions. No. The cost of food provided while an evacuee is living in a mass shelter is reimbursable through a PA applicant; however, once the evacuee is provided with interim shelter in housing units with kitchens, food costs are not eligible.

The fuel tax exemptions for federal, state, and local governments are the same. Purchases by state and local government are subject to the Virginia Petroleum Storage Fee (Tank Fee).

No. Since 8(a) STARS is a Government Wide Acquisition Contract, or GWAC, it is authorized by the Clinger-Cohen Act to provide technology solutions to the federal government only. Special authority was granted to GSA to offer the IT Schedule 70 contracts to state and local governments to assist them in meeting their technology requirements.

Local, state, and the Federal governments support the development of geothermal resources in a variety of ways. At the national level, the US Department of Energy launched GeoPowering the West in 1999 to dramatically increase the use of geothermal energy in the western United States.

Yes.  The Public Advocate has subpoena power, and the power to bring lawsuits on behalf of the citizens of New Jersey against state and local governments.  However, before resorting to litigation, the Department will exhaust all possible means to resolve disputes by working together with all interested parties.

Our group here in Minnesota has actually been on the leading edge of a number of emerging infectious disease issues dating back several decades. We were one of the first groups to actually sound the alarm back in 1981 around HIV/AIDS. We were early on into the area of antibiotic resistance; we were the ones talking about the problems with changing food supplies in the 1980s.

Alaska ’s Pandemic Influenza plan calls for actions at the state and local level to communicate medical information, conduct disease surveillance, deliver vaccines, distribute medications and implement public health measures to control the spread of disease. Annual public health influenza vaccination clinics in several communities have been used as exercises for the potential mass vaccination of people.

A major challenge is to reduce the spread of disease early in the pandemic when the supply of vaccines and antiviral medications is very limited. Another big challenge is to rapidly increase the capacity of medical and hospital care to serve large numbers of very sick people. A third challenge is to identify sufficient numbers of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers to provide care during a pandemic.

A pandemic is caused by a new influenza virus that most people have not been exposed to, so there is little or no pre-existing immunity. Seasonal flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that are similar to previous years. Some people may have built up immunity and there also is a vaccine for each year’s flu season.

The flu spreads from person to person through coughing and/or sneezing. It is also spread through contact with unwashed hands, contaminated surfaces and objects. When a new strain of influenza evolves, people could have very little natural defence against it. This allows the virus to spread more widely, with more serious consequences. With increased ease in global travel, a pandemic is expected to spread around the world rapidly, within weeks to months.