[media-credit name=’NATALIE WEINBERGER/Herald Photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]A legislative task force designed to review the state's preparedness for a potential avian flu outbreak met Tuesday to hear testimony from state influenza experts.

State Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, a co-chair of the Avian Flu Task Force, said the group has several goals, which include determining how to educate the public about avian flu, the role of public-health departments statewide, the impact avian flu could have on wildlife and the state's agribusiness and also the state's preparedness for any kind of pandemic.

Avian flu has been at the public forefront lately, as the outbreak of the bird flu in Asia has drawn attention worldwide. Thus far, about 120 cases of the H5N1 strain of avian flu have been confirmed in humans. Half of these have been fatal.

"The trends are that pandemics are cyclical, and it looks as though precursors are in place [indicating] this could happen in the near future," Rhoades said. "It may not be avian, but whatever it is, we have to have a plan in place."

Rhoades stressed the need for the state to give the public information that aptly describes the threat of avian flu without causing panic.

"We want to be sure we are discussing appropriate action. Our experience with [chronic wasting disease] told us we can sometimes have a very knee-jerk response that isn't the most accurate."

Dennis Maki, M.D., a clinical physician and professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, said that although vaccines to fight the avian flu in humans are in the works, it may take a minimum of six months to develop them.

"We need a better system," Maki said, noting the process necessary to make a vaccine against avian flu is a "complicated endeavor."

UW professor of veterinary medicine Rob Porter said anxiety over the avian flu threat could be very damaging to the poultry industry in both Wisconsin and the United States, which are worth about $100 million and $23.3 billion, respectively.

The task force meeting came one week after Gov. Jim Doyle announced an outline of the state's preparedness in the case of an avian flu outbreak in Wisconsin.

"Wisconsin has had a plan in place for a number of years, but there has been a new addition that's really focused on the agriculture industry in the state," Doyle spokesperson Melanie Fonder said. She also added the state is doing everything possible to be equipped with a comprehensive plan to deal with avian flu, noting such plans need regular updating.

State epidemiologist Tom Haupt said the preparedness outline has three main stages: preparation, implementation and evaluation.

And though the avian flu is the "latest candidate" for the next pandemic, Haupt said, the severity of the threat is known.

"We are taking it seriously, but it is certainly not an imminent threat to anyone in Wisconsin or anyone in the United States," he said.

Wisconsin's plan was based on avian flu preparedness plans implemented in other states, especially Minnesota, which received special federal funding for the cause in 1997. However, the state's plan has some necessary changes and improvements, Haupt said.

"This will never be set in stone because we need to be able to change at the spur of the moment," Haupt said. "We have to continue to progress and prepare and try to anticipate what might happen in case an influenza pandemic does start."

In a release, Doyle said the state is better prepared than others in the United States, but noted the federal government still needs to step up to the plate and contribute more funding to address a looming avian flu pandemic.

"This response from Congress simply isn't acceptable," Doyle said. "We cannot afford to do nothing. We need to be prepared to act — and to prepare the best we can, we need leadership and action from Washington."