Guidelines for Public Health Services on Cluster Control for Pandemic Influenza

Summary

These guidelines describe the public health interventions that may be used by Public Health Units in the cluster control phase of pandemic influenza.

The aims of cluster control in a pandemic are to:

• control or eliminate the disease after introduction to New Zealand (in conjunction with rigorous border management)
• slow the transmission of the disease
• obtain epidemiological information to characterise the spread of the infection to inform the pandemic management response.

The guidelines will be updated as necessary as information on the epidemiology of the pandemic virus is known.