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Fremont County public health staff outline preparedness drills and monitor vaccine-preventable illnesses
Summary
Public health staff briefed commissioners on upcoming preparedness exercises, contract amendments with the state and current surveillance for flu, pertussis and measles; commissioners asked for after-action documentation.
Public health staff updated the Fremont County Board of Commissioners on contract amendments, planned preparedness exercises and local disease monitoring at the meeting.
Tracy, a Fremont County public health official, told the board the county has about three months left in the current budget period and is planning two exercises: a tabletop chemical-incident exercise on April 23 and a vaccination “point of dispensing” (POD) exercise probably in May that will use volunteers and county partners to simulate a mass-dispensing clinic. “It’s what we would do in the event of, like, an anthrax exposure,” Tracy said, describing the POD as stations for clinical screening and public information.
Staff also reported a small addendum to the county’s contract with Lanier Medical Clinic: an additional $375 for the year to meet a required contract threshold. Commissioners approved an amendment to the county’s contract 247071 with the Wyoming Department of Health to adjust subrecipient responsibilities; staff said the changes were largely wording clarifications and that state CDC and FEMA communications have been limited while the agencies reorganize.
Dr. Forbes, brought in to deliver an epidemiology briefing, said there were no new human avian-flu cases reported in the U.S. in the prior four weeks and that Wyoming had seen a backyard-flock case earlier. “There have been no cases in The US in the past 4 weeks,” Dr. Forbes said. She flagged pertussis as an active concern: Wyoming has seen more cases in 2025 than in all of 2024, and the county has recorded three cases. She noted that pertussis can present as a prolonged cough in older patients and can be severe or fast-moving in infants. The county has testing available at local clinics, she said, which can return results in about 45 minutes and allow early treatment.
Commissioners asked how the county documents outcomes from preparedness activities. Public health staff pointed to after-action reports and improvement plans produced after exercises and incidents, and said those reports capture lessons learned and partnerships developed during COVID and other responses.
Staff also discussed federal funding uncertainty: a county representative said they had heard about staffing changes at CDC and that some pandemic-era grants had ended; public health staff said current grant funding for planned drills remains in place for the year but the size and availability of next-year federal grants remain unclear.
