Congress considers Concord hazardous?

From Charlotte.com: http://www.charlotte.com/109/v-print/story/314034.html

By LISA ZAGAROLI

NASCAR fans might seem rabid, but are they actually contagious?
Getting a hepatitis shot is standard procedure for travelers to parts of
Africa and Asia, but some congressional aides were instructed to get
immunized before going to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord and the racetrack
in Talladega, Ala.

The House Homeland Security Committee planned a fact-finding trip about
public health preparedness at mass gatherings and decided to conduct the
research at two of the nation's most heavily attended sporting events,
NASCAR's Bank of America 500 event this weekend and the UAW-Ford 500 last
weekend.

Staff who organized the trips advised the NASCAR-bound aides to get a range
of vaccines before attending -- hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus,
diphtheria and influenza.

Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican from Concord, took umbrage when he heard
about it.

"I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and as the
representative for Concord, N.C., I feel compelled to ask why the heck the
committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown,"
Hayes said in an Oct. 5 letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs
the Homeland Security panel.

"I have been to numerous NASCAR races, and the folks who attend these events
certainly do not pose any health hazard to congressional staffers or anyone
else," Hayes added.

Lauri Wilks, vice president of communications for Speedway Motorsports,
which owns Lowe's Motor Speedway and other tracks, said Wednesday that
immunizations aren't needed for the race.

"There's no health risk that we know of," she said, laughing. "We have never
had any disease outbreak during one of our weekends."

The four aides were asked to explore public health issues at events
involving large gatherings, such as how law enforcement and medical
personnel would respond to an act of terrorism or other emergency. Lawmakers
weren't part of the trip.

The staffers traveled to Talladega last weekend, and are scheduled to be at
Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend.

Thompson said the immunizations are commonly recommended for people working
in hospitals, holding centers and similar locations.

"Since committee staff members are visiting hospital and other health-care
facilities available at or near these venues, including areas where groups
of people are detained before being transferred to other off-site
facilities, I believe that the recommendation (not requirement) that our
congressional staff receive these same immunizations was sound," Thompson
said in a letter responding to Hayes issued Wednesday.

"I am sure you would agree that providing immunizations to personnel
involved in public safety is good public health policy, and there is no need
to exclude staff from taking the preventative measures that the public
health community recommends -- regardless of why and where mass gatherings
are taking place," Thompson said in the letter.

Jim Walker, Alabama's director of homeland security, said the congressional
committee aides who visited Talladega worked hard. He said they were trying
to determine whether the state and federal emergency response system was
adequate to handle a situation at such a large event.

"I might have been a little skeptical about this visit coming in, but these
folks worked," Walker said.

He said the aides went on patrols with law enforcement, toured facilities
and interviewed first responders, hazardous materials teams and other
officials.

Walker said he hadn't recommended the immunizations, nor were they
necessary. He suggested a possible health risk to them was the voluminous
notes they took.

"I'm sure they needed to soak their wrists, they wrote so much," he said.