About 200 representatives of 23 tribes attended the Pandemic Influenza Summit for Tribes in Oklahoma City.
Dr. Gregory Felzien, director of the Infectious Diseases Division at the W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital, said Oklahoma Indians are susceptible to pandemic flu due to high rates of diabetes. "When you're dealing with the native people in Oklahoma, they're more immuno-compromised in the sense that diabetes is much more prevalent," he said, The Oklahoman reports.
Dr. Michael Crutcher, Oklahoma's health commissioner, said tribal health facilities can play an important role in a flu outbreak. "They have clinics. They have health professionals. They have hospitals that can be used to help," he was quoted as saying.
The conference was organized by the Southern Plains Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center of the Oklahoma City Area Inter-Tribal Health Board.
Get the Story:
Tribes discuss pandemic readiness
(The Oklahoman 8/16)
pwpwd
Stay Connected
Contact Us
indianz@indianz.com202 630 8439 (THEZ)
Search
Top Stories
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
More Stories
Dame Te Ata, Maori queen, dies at age of 75 Chickasaw Nation to remodel and staff fire station
News Archive
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000