COURSE OVERVIEW

Physicians working in densely populated areas such as Orange County must be prepared to face growing threats from bioterrorism and newly emerging infections. The reality of such threats is underscored by the recent outbreak of avian influenza, a virus with the potential to cause a devastating, world-wide pandemic. Therefore, the Division of Infectious Diseases of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine has organized the inaugural year of this conference. The need for this program was identified by the organizing committee (Donald Forthal, MD and Alan Barbour, MD, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCI School of Medicine, Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP, Department of Emergency Medicine, UCI and Fadi Essmaeel, MD, the Homeland Security Director for Orange County Congressman Dana Rohrabacher), as a result of questions and comments from local physicians. This comprehensive continuing education conference will provide state-of-the-art education to emergency and primary care physicians so they can effectively identify and respond to an intentional or non-intentional infectious disease outbreak. The agenda for the program was designed to give pertinent information on the background of bioterrorism, on how to identify relevant infectious diseases, on what new infections are on the horizon, and how to respond to patients and interact with public health authorities in the event of bioterror or an emerging infectious disease outbreak.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the completion of this activity the participant should be able to:

• Recognize important epidemiological and clinical features of infectious diseases that pose threats to public health
• Discuss the challenges to prevention and control of intentional and non-intentional infectious disease outbreaks
• Develop a response plan that includes contacting the proper local authority
• Define current approaches to treating and managing emerging infectious diseases
• Identify the role of the primary care physician in responding to intentional and non-intentional infectious disease outbreaks

TARGET AUDIENCE

Primary care and emergency physicians and other healthcare providers should plan to attend.