Rabies Awareness Week September 23-29, 2013
Rabies is a deadly virus most often found in wild animals like skunks, raccoons and foxes. However, when dogs and cats encounter wild animals they can be exposed to rabies, and can then expose humans to the virus. If pets are not vaccinated against rabies, the consequences can be devastating—for them, and the people who love and care for them. Keeping pets up-to-date on rabies vaccinations creates a protective buffer between humans and wildlife. So, when you have your pet vaccinated, you are protecting them, yourself and your family.
What you can do:
- Have your veterinarian vaccinate your dogs, cats, ferrets, and selected livestock. Keep the vaccinations up-to-date.
- If your pet is attacked or bitten by a wild animal, report it to the Prince William Health District - Environmental Health Division and animal control authorities. Be sure your vaccinated dog, cat, or ferret receives a booster vaccination.
- Limit the possibility of exposure by keeping your animals on your property. Don’t let pets roam free.
- Do not leave garbage or pet food outside. It may attract wild or stray animals.
- Do not keep wild animals as pets. Enjoy all wild animals from a distance, even if they seem friendly. A rabid animal sometimes acts tame. If you see an animal acting strangely, report it to your local animal control department and do not go near it yourself.
Local animal control authorities:
City of Manassas Park
City of Manassas
Prince William County
National Preparedness Month 2013
This September is National Preparedness Month (NPM). The event, now in its ninth year, is a nationwide, month-long effort hosted by the Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps, encouraging households, businesses and communities to prepare and plan for emergencies.
Emergencies can happen anytime and anywhere without notice. Households, businesses and organizations should prepare in the event an emergency causes you to be self-reliant for three days without utilities, electricity, or water, without access to a supermarket or local services or maybe even without response from police, fire or rescue. Preparing can start with four important steps:
- Be informed about emergencies that could happen in your community, and identify sources of information in your community that will be helpful before, during and after an emergency.
- Make a plan for what to do in an emergency. Be sure to include at-risk individuals and pets in your planning efforts.
- Build an emergency supply kit
- Get involved.
Preparedness is a shared responsibility; it takes a whole community. This year’s National Preparedness Month focuses on turning awareness into action by encouraging all individuals and all communities nationwide to make an emergency preparedness plan.
County Fairs
This is a good reminder to take preventive actions to reduce the risk of influenza viruses spreading from pigs to people while at county fairs.
- Don’t take food or drink into pig areas; don’t eat, drink or put anything in your mouth in pig areas.
- Don’t take toys, pacifiers, cups, baby bottles, strollers, or similar items into pig areas.
- Wash your hands often with soap and running water before and after exposure to pigs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
- Avoid close contact with pigs that look or act ill.
- To further reduce the risk of infection, minimize contact with pigs in the pig barn and arenas.
- Persons at high risk for the complications of influenza should avoid pigs and swine barns at fairs this year. Those at high risk include children younger than 5 years, people 65 years and older, pregnant women, and people with certain long-term health conditions.
- If you raise pigs, monitor them for signs of illness and call a veterinarian if you suspect they might be sick. Take protective measures if you must come in contact with pigs that are known or suspected to be sick. This includes minimizing contact with pigs and wearing personal protective equipment like protective clothing, gloves and masks that cover your mouth and nose when contact is required.
- If you show pigs, work with your veterinarian to make sure you have the documentation and physical exams required by the fair organizers. Never show sick pigs. Ask fair organizers what steps are to be taken if a pig becomes sick at the fair.
- Avoid contact with pigs if you have flu-like symptoms.
Infectious diseases remain one of the greatest threats to public health in the United States and across the world. Despite key advances in medicine and science, infectious diseases still rank among the greatest causes for illness, disability, and death. The burden of infectious diseases is both a national and global challenge to population health.
A quote from the committee that developed the Healthy People 2020 measures. This demonstrates how important Prince William Health District’s communicable disease and immunization program is to protect the health of the community.
Bottled Water and Tooth Decay
Drinking water with fluoride helps to prevent tooth decay. If you only drink bottled water, you may not be getting an adequate amount of fluoride to prevent tooth decay.
- Fluorinating public water began in the 1940s, and is one of the most effective public health oral health preventive measures that helped to improve oral health.
- An increase in drinking of bottled water without fluoride among children and adolescents may contribute to the decline in adolescent oral health.
- Some bottled waters have fluoride, which can help to reduce tooth decay along with adequate brushing, improved diets, and less sugary drinks.
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Some water filters remove the fluoride from water. You can ask the water filter manufacturer for information regarding your particular filter.
Did You Know?
- Flu shot may protect you against heart disease and stroke by preventing an inflamatory response as your body tries to fight the virus.
- People who took statins to lower their cholesterol may have a lower risk of death when diagnosed cancer than those diagnosed with cancer and are not taking statins.
- Women with diabetes on metformin for at least 3 years may have a lower risk of breast cancer perhaps due to their better glucose control.
Behaviors to Improve Cardiovascular Health
- No tobacco exposure
- Healthy dietary practices: Increase fruits and vegetable intake, whole grain intake
- Decrease saturated fat and trans fat intake
- Decrease sugar intake: decrease sugar beverages
- Physically active lifestyle
- Adhere to health care recommendations
- Increase risk factor screening: BP, total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose
Information from the American Heart Association
BEAT Cancer
The Potomac Health Foundation approved a grant to Prince William Health District for their grant proposal called "BEAT Cancer,” a Breast Education Awareness & Treatment program for the Eastern end of the Prince William Health District.
BEAT Cancer will focus on breast cancer mortality prevention. The approach will be two pronged: develop a community breast cancer coalition to determine gaps in care, and institute a patient navigator program both pre and post breast cancer diagnosis. Funds will be used to develop culturally sensitive programs to increase breast cancer detection and survival among women in the Potomac Health Foundation service area within the Prince William Health District. PWHD breast cancer mortality data demonstrates health equity issues regarding breast cancer survival, and this grant hopes to address these issues.
New Report from the Northern Virginia Health Foundation: May 31, 2013
- Over half of the adult residents are overweight or obese
- Close to one in four adults has not had a dental visit in the last two years
- One in five children hasn’t seen a dental provider in the last year
- More than one in four youth reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks in a row
- One in five adults are at risk for binge drinking
- Compared to Virginia as a whole, the region had higher rates of births with late prenatal care
- Six localities in Northern Virginia including Prince William County, Manassas City and Manassas Park City exceeded the statewide rate of births without early prenatal care
PWHD Urges Safety in Recreational Waters
As the days get warmer, people begin heading to Virginia’s local beaches, lakes, streams and nearby swimming pools and water parks to cool off. The Prince William
Health District reminds everyone to avoid illness and injury while enjoying the water.
Prevent Injury
To reduce the risk of drowning and water-related injuries:
- Teach children to swim. Participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning among children between 1 and 4 years old.
- Never leave a child alone near water, and always designate a responsible adult to supervise children swimming or playing in or around the water.
- Learn Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). You can save a life while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
- When boating in open waters, be sure to wear U.S. Coast Guard approved life jackets, regardless of the distance to be traveled, the size of the boat or the swimming ability of the boaters.
- With any recreational water activity always use the buddy system, be aware of local weather conditions, do not consume alcohol before or during recreational water activities, avoid swimming after dark, do not dive into unknown or shallow areas and watch out for dangerous waves or rip currents.
Prevent Illness
Follow these healthy swimming guidelines to help protect you, your family, and other swimmers from illness:
- Look for swimming advisory signs before entering the water. These may indicate that the bacterial levels in the water are unsafe for recreational activity.
- During hot summer months, caution is recommended regarding swimming in stagnant or shallow freshwater.
- Avoid getting water in your mouth or having water shoot up your nose. Do not swallow pool, lake, river or ocean water.
- Don’t swim when you are ill. You can spread germs in the water and make other people sick.
- Shower with soap before swimming and wash your hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers. Germs on your body can end up in the water.
- Wash your child thoroughly with soap and water before swimming.
- Make sure your children have bathroom breaks, and check diapers often. Waiting to hear “I have to go” might be too late.
Protect Skin
Protect against skin damage and skin cancer by using sunscreen with sun protective factor (SPF) 15 or higher, and both UVA and UVB protection. Wear clothing to protect exposed skin, a hat with a wide brim to shade the face, head, ears and neck, and sunglasses that wrap around and block as close to 100 percent of both UVA and UVB rays as possible.
For more information on Illness prevention, please visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/
Protect yourself from Skin Cancer and Mosquitoes
In order to protect yourself from the sun's cancer causing ultraviolet rays as well as virus carrying mosquitoes, you should use sunscreen and bug spray in the right order.
First rub sunscreen onto clean dry skin that is at least SPF 30. Allow 15 minutes to absorb then mist your skin with insect repellent according to the directions on the container. DEET and picaridin based sprays provide the longest protection. Oil of lemon is a plant-based repellent that will provide some protection.
The Center for Disease Control does not recommend using an all-in-one sunscreen with bug spray. This may lead to an increased absorption of the pesticide.
Enjoy the outdoors but do it smartly and protect yourself from the sun and disease causing bugs.
