If an influenza pandemic were to break out in Charlottesville, it could potentially kill 170 people per week of the 210,000 inhabitants of the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.
This risk prompted the University to create the Pandemic Planning Committee in June 2006, which aims to combat the University's lack of preparation for a potential pandemic, said Committee Chair James Turner, who also serves as the director of Student Health.
According to Turner, the Committee consists of eight subcommittees, each focused on a different aspect of University life: academic affairs, student support services, human resources, communication, administrative operations, healthcare and infection control, information technology and faculty and staff.
"The impact of a pandemic on the University will be widespread across virtually all disciplines, and in order for the University to provide appropriate healthcare services, it's going to take an extraordinary amount of planning," Turner said.
The Pandemic Planning Committee is part of a group of Charlottesville subcommittees that all work together to plan measures that would be necessary in the event of a pandemic, according to Lilian Peake, director of the Thomas Jefferson Health District and head of the Charlottesville pandemic planning subcommittees.
Peake and Turner both agreed the threat of a pandemic is very real and according to Turner, the University is at an especially high risk.
"We have hundreds and hundreds of faculty and students traveling internationally, so we are quite vulnerable to a pandemic -- if there's a pandemic it will most certainly hit Charlottesville," Turner said.
In response to this possibility, the University's Pandemic Planning Committee has developed a plan to work with the University's existing emergency response plan that evolved after Sept. 11, Turner said.
If a pandemic were to occur, according to Turner, the University would be shut down and students would be encouraged to leave Grounds.
Turner noted, however, that state government officials recently decided research labs would remain open during a pandemic.
This new development allows for continued research during a flu outbreak when it may be most needed, Turner added.
"Now we are asking researchers to come up with continuing research plans," Turner said.
To prepare for the possibility of the University closing, the University provost is working to develop distance-learning programs with professors that are expected to be completed by the summer, according to Turner.
"We are recommending to professors that they develop a way to complete courses over the Internet." Turner said, noting that "It might not be possible for some courses like a chemistry or biology lab, but it is an alternative for many courses."
Closing the University is not just a decision encouraged by the Committee, but a national ultimatum, Turner said.
"The federal government in its plan for a pandemic has been very certain that schools should be shut down because classrooms and campuses are so crowded, encouraging rapid infection," Turner said.
The evacuation of Grounds is a process that students themselves need to take initiative to plan, Turner noted.
Students "need to have a plan for how they are going to get home during a pandemic," he said. "For students from Virginia, it's fairly easy, but the students from 75 other countries and 49 other states need to have a conversation about planning a route home."
The Committee also is addressing the problem of a national shortage of vaccines, Turner added.
"At this point in time if the pandemic were to strike tomorrow, the virus would be isolated, but it would take several months to produce enough vaccines using the conventional technology," Turner said. "We are operating under the pretense that a vaccine won't be available."
The intensive preparation for a possible pandemic, according to Peake and Turner, is vital for both flu protection and protection against other emergencies such as hurricanes and natural disasters.
"With this planning the University's emergency plan could be comprehensive enough to deal with any disaster that could befall the University," Turner said.
According to Peake, the collaboration between the University and the larger community has been tremendous.
"The University has really been a wonderful partner," she added. "U.Va. is the biggest employer in the area and obviously plays a huge role in Charlottesville healthcare, so it is always good to have them at the table."
Peake added that she strongly encourages University students to contact the University Health System if they are interested in getting involved with one of the planning committees.
Both Turner and Peake noted the complicated process required to achieve such a comprehensive emergency plan, but also discussed the success of the planning thus far.
"I think all the hard work is going to pay off in the long run," Turner said.
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