In the event of such an epidemic, it is reasonable to assume that public health departments will be pressed to find ways to maintain their services even when employees are ill, normal supply chains are disrupted, and the nation's infrastructure is inoperative; furthermore, the traditional roles of environmental health professionals can also be expected to change in dramatic ways during a period of pandemic influenza (Fabian, 2006). As U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Leavitt has noted, states and local jurisdictions will be in the vanguard of the battle that has 5,000 fronts. According to the secretary, "A lot is going to be expected of us. Fortunately, a great deal of the preparation activities laid out below have already become part of our awareness and skill set as a result of some of the terrorism and emergency response planning that public health has recently experienced" (Fabian, 2006, p....
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