September 19, 2006

Dear Members of the Babson Community,

Given our strong ties as a community and concern for one another’s well being, we wanted to provide you with some important information regarding the possible onset of a pandemic.  As part of our institutional pandemic planning efforts, we have forwarded our students and their parents some useful planning documents regarding the government’s recommendations for family planning. We thought it would also be appropriate and helpful that we provide the staff and faculty with the same information to assist each of you and your families.

We request you think about and plan for this contingency not to invoke panic in you or your family. We do it only to increase awareness and overall preparedness for individuals and our community.

As you know, avian influenza (subtype H5N1), also known as the “bird flu”, is a hot topic in the media. Despite the fact that millions of birds, domestic and wild, have been culled (picked out), the infection has been persistent in the bird population and continues to spread along the flight paths of migratory birds. Most of the laboratory confirmed cases in humans have resulted from direct contact with infected birds with only a few isolated cases occurring from human to human contact.

Public health authorities and government officials have expressed concern that a pandemic could be sparked by the virus if it mutates in a way that allows for sustainable transmission from person to person. The World Health Organization and U.S. health authorities are making preparations in the event a pandemic occurs and has urged all communities to do so. We are following this recommendation and, as you know from previous communications, Babson is making plans to prepare our campus community as well.

Over the past few months, the Pandemic Planning Task Force has been developing appropriate plans for the College including the potential impact on College operations. As part of that work, we have been sharing our plans with local and state public health officials, looking for feedback to ensure that our planning is aligned with federal, state and local planning efforts and mandates.

One of the consistent themes we continue to hear from government officials is the importance for individuals and families to take proactive steps to prepare in the event of an onset of a pandemic influenza. Currently, public health authorities are stating that the best course of action in the event of a pandemic onset is social distancing and vigilant hand hygiene and cough etiquette. Essentially this means that during a pandemic, you need to reduce (to the extent possible) the amount of contact you have with other individuals to avoid the transmission of the virus. Consequently, it is important that you plan accordingly as a family. To assist you in this effort, we are forwarding three documents that have been created by government agencies. Please use these documents (attached) to guide your conversations and planning efforts in your own home.

For official information and a current assessment of the avian flu, you should rely only on official government sources. You can access such sources and additional information on Babson’s planning efforts at http://www3.babson.edu/Offices/health.

Sincerely,

Tim Mann                                                        Sharon Yardley
Dean – Student Affairs                                   Director – Health Services
Co-Chair, Pandemic Planning Task Force        Co-Chair, Pandemic Planning Task Force