Friends Lesson Plan CDC USDA Cleared – FINAL

Provided to 2014 Training Participants ~ August 19-20, 2014

Lesson #1: Sneezing

Subject Overview and Background Information

Many serious respiratory illnesses are spread by coughing, sneezing, and dirty hands. Keeping our hands

clean and practicing good cough behaviors help us live healthier lives. When we practice these healthy

habits, we can help protect ourselves from getting sick and avoid spreading germs to others.

What Is A Zoonotic Infectious Disease?

Did you know some infections can be passed between animals and people? These infections are called

zoonotic diseases. Some examples of these types of infections that can make you sick are Salmonella, E.

coli and influenza (also known as the “flu”). Close contact with animals, an animal’s mucus, saliva, or

feces, or an animal’s environment (such as their bedding or feed bins), can put you at risk for catching

these infections. Sometimes the animals carrying these germs look perfectly healthy, and sometimes

they look sick. Young children, older people, and all people with certain health conditions such as

asthma, heart disease or weakened immune systems should be extra careful when interacting with

animals because these factors can make them more likely to get very sick if they get a zoonotic

infection.

Influenza

Influenza (also known as “flu”), is a respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. Flu can cause fever, cough,

sore throat, runny nose, body aches, headaches, fatigue, and sometimes even vomiting and diarrhea in

people. There are human flu viruses and flu viruses that usually spread only in animals, such as pigs and

birds, but these viruses also can spread back and forth between animals and humans. Flu viruses are

normally spread by sick people or animals through respiratory secretions from sneezing, coughing, or

talking. If you breathe those viruses in, or get them on your hands and then touch your eyes, nose, or

mouth, they can infect the lining of your nose and throat, and 1 to 2 days later, you can get sick. Most

people who get infected with a human flu virus have a mild illness, but some people can get very sick

and even need to go to the hospital. When animal flu viruses infect people, sometimes the illness is

mild, but sometimes it is very serious—it depends a lot on what virus is involved. In either case, young

children, older people, and people whose bodies are less able to fight off diseases are more likely than

others to get severe illness from influenza. Pigs that get the flu can have fever, trouble breathing, be

coughing (“barking”), or go off feed. Chickens with the flu may just have ruffled feathers and produce

fewer eggs than normal, or they could become very sick and die.

The best way to avoid catching a flu virus from animals is to avoid close contact with animals that are

sick (close contact can be touching, holding, or coming within a few feet of an animal). The best way to

protect animals, such as pigs, from catching an influenza virus from people is to avoid close contact with

animals if you are sick. The best way for people to protect against catching influenza from people is to

get an influenza vaccine every year and to avoid close contact with people who are sick. But it’s

important to know that annual flu vaccines protect against human flu viruses and usually won’t protect

against animal flu viruses.

For more information and materials about the flu and working with animals, follow these links:

http://www.pork.org/filelibrary/youth/BY.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/people-raise-pigs-flu.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/keyfacts_pigs.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-birds.htm

Objectives

1. Students will learn proper coughing/sneezing etiquette 2. Students will be able explain how germs can spread to people from coughing and sneezing.

Introduction: As students and 4-H members, it is especially important for us to practice healthy cough

behaviors. When we cough or sneeze into our hands, we can cover our hands with germs. When we

touch our friends, our desks, our pencils, we run the risk of spreading those germs to our friends and

classmates. When we choose not to cover our coughs at all, we can spray germs all around us – on

desks, chairs, handrails. (Spray the water bottle). Like the spray from this water bottle, when we don’t

cover our mouths, the spray from our sneezes and coughs can spread to our friends around us. In fact,

did you know that germs in droplets from sneezes and coughs can travel up to 6 feet or more in the air?

A. We’ve all seen people sneeze before. What does it look like when someone sneezes? B. Have you ever been sprayed by a sneeze?

Materials

Sneezing Video

Spray bottle filled with water

One 6 foot long piece of yarn for every student in the classroom

Sneezing, Coughing, and Talking Figure

Recommended Videos

The Slow Motion Sneeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2QAGVMlns4

Sneezing Experiment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f4sUNWkq60

Exercise:

1. Invite students to view a video of someone sneezing. Two video options are noted above and many others are available online. You can show one video or multiple videos.

2. Invite students to each take a piece of yarn. 3. Instruct the students to hold on to one end of yarn and give the other end to a classmate. As

students share, each student should end up with two ends of yarn. 4. Ask the students to spread out. If possible, they should stretch both pieces of yarn taut. 5. Encourage students to continue moving until they are as far away from one another as possible.

Reflect:

1. Describe: a. How far away are you from your classmate? b. How far can droplets from sneezes and coughs travel? c. Are you far enough away from your classmates to avoid getting sprayed by a sneeze?

2. Infer: a. What could happen if someone sneezed or coughed in your direction? b. What else in the room might be sprayed by droplets from coughs and sneezes? c. How might sneezing/coughing without covering your mouth affect the health of your

family and friends? 3. Transfer:

a. What can we do to protect our friends and family from getting sick? i. Stay home from school or work when sick.

b. What is the best way to cover a cough or sneeze? i. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Put your

used tissue in the waste basket and then wash your hands. If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands.

c. What can we do to protect ourselves from getting sick? i. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

ii. Wash your hands.

Take it Home: Invite students to create posters that illustrate the appropriate ways to cover coughs and

sneezes. These posters can be shared with their family and school.

Lesson #2: Healthy Hands

Originally developed by Janie Burney, Associate Professor, Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Tennessee

Modified by Abbey E. Wojno

What Is A Zoonotic Infectious Disease?

Did you know some infections can be passed between animals and people? These infections are called

zoonotic diseases. Some examples of these types of infections that can make you sick are Salmonella, E.

coli and influenza (also known as the “flu”). Close contact with animals, an animal’s mucus, saliva, or

feces, or an animal’s environment (such as their bedding or feed bins), can put you at risk for catching

these infections. Sometimes the animals carrying these germs look perfectly healthy, and sometimes

they look sick. Young children, older people, and all people with certain health conditions such as

asthma, heart disease or weakened immune systems should be extra careful when interacting with

animals because these factors can make them more likely to get very sick if they get a zoonotic

infection.

Salmonella

Salmonella germs are a group of bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps in

people and animals. Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of many different animals including cows,

pigs, turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs, chickens and other birds, rodents, horses, dogs, and cats.

Sometimes, animals that have Salmonella appear healthy and clean, but they can also get sick with

diarrhea. Salmonella bacteria can be shed in an animal’s feces and can contaminate their bodies or

anything in the area where animals live or roam. Salmonella infections are spread by fecal-oral

transmission. This means infections start when you swallow Salmonella—in other words, when you get

tiny (usually invisible to the naked eye) amounts of human or animal feces in your mouth.

Unfortunately, this happens more often than we would like to think about. Some examples of how

people get Salmonella are eating undercooked beef, pork, chicken or eggs, eating contaminated fruits or

vegetables, consuming unpasteurized (raw) milk or milk products, and contact with infected animals

(such as their fur, skin, feathers, or scales). The germs that are on animals and their environments can

get on your hands. This is why it is important to always wash your hands right after working with any

animal, especially before preparing food and before eating or drinking. You should also wash your hands

after leaving animal areas even if you didn’t touch an animal (their environments can become

contaminated too!). By taking these simple steps, you can help protect yourself from getting sick.

Reptiles, such as turtles, lizards, and snakes, and amphibians such as frogs and toads, are very likely to

harbor Salmonella. Many chicks and backyard poultry of any age can shed Salmonella in their droppings.

These animals have been linked to numerous outbreaks of human Salmonella infections. Here are a few

tips on how to safely handle reptiles, amphibians and poultry.

Keep amphibians and reptiles in a habitat designed for them. Don’t let them roam around free in your home. Keep chicks and other live poultry outside of your house.

Keep animals out of areas where food or drink is prepared, served, or stored, such as kitchens, or outdoor patios.

Always wash your hands immediately after handling a reptile or bird (or other animal), their food, or anything it has touched- even if the animal appears healthy.

Keep amphibians, reptiles, birds and items from their habitat out of the kitchen and away from your food and food preparation areas.

E. coli

E. coli (short for Escherichia coli) are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E.

coli are harmless, others such as E. coli O157:H7, can make you very sick. E. coli live in the intestinal

tracts of many animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, rabbits, pigs, and deer. E. coli infections are spread

by fecal-oral transmission (like Salmonella). Some examples of how people get E. coli are eating

undercooked beef, eating contaminated fruits or vegetables, consuming unpasteurized (raw) milk or

milk products, visiting petting zoos, and coming into contact with infected animals. People infected with

E. coli have severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Many times, animals that have E.

coli look and act perfectly healthy. You don’t have to touch an animal to get sick. Contact with anything

in the areas where animals live and roam (for example a fence or bedding) can lead to illness. Always

wash your hands after working with animals and right after leaving the animal area even if you didn’t

touch animal (their environments can become contaminated too!).

Objectives:

1. Students will learn how to wash their hands correctly. 2. Students will be able explain how germs move from surfaces to our hands. 3. Students will be able to explain how germs can be shared between people and animals.

Introduction:

Sometimes even when we practice good coughing habits, we can’t avoid getting germs on our hands.

When we touch contaminated surfaces, germs end up on our hands (even if we can’t see them). If we

touch our eyes, nose, and mouth with our dirty hands, the germs can get into our bodies and make us

sick. Washing our hands is a way to protect ourselves and others from getting sick. The best way to wash

our hands is with soap and clean running water.

A. How many times each day do you wash your hands? B. When do you wash your hands? C. How long do you wash your hands? D. How do you know that you’ve removed all of the germs?

Materials:

Cooking Oil

Ground cinnamon

Liquid hand soap

Fingernail brush

Clean Paper Towels

Timer

Sink with warm and cold running water

Exercise:

1. Invite students to roll their sleeves past their elbows. Over the sink, pour about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil into each set of hands. Encourage the students to rub the oil on their hands like they would with lotion.

2. Divide the students into 4 groups. Sprinkle about a ½ tablespoon of ground cinnamon into hands of half of the members of each group. For example, if there are 4 members in each group, sprinkle the cinnamon into two of the group members’ hands.

3. Explain to the students that the cinnamon on their hands is like a bunch of germs. The cinnamon represents the germs that we get on our hands everyday, and the real germs that they probably have on their hands right now.

4. Ask the members of each group to shake hands with each other. As they shake hands the “germs” will transfer from one student to the next.

5. Invite each group of students to wash their hands according to the following practices:

Group 1 – Wash with cold water for 10 seconds

Group 2 – Wash with cold water for 20 seconds

Group 3 – Wash with warm water and soap while singing the Happy Birthday song

once (10 seconds)

Group 4 – Wash with warm water and soap while singing the Happy Birthday song

twice (20 seconds)

Reflect:

1. Describe: a) What happened when you shook hands with your friends? b) How do your hands look? c) Whose hands are the cleanest?

1. Are they really clean? Look under your fingernails and on the backs of your hands. d) Whose hands are the germiest? e) What did you notice while you were washing your hands with cold water? f) What did you notice while you were washing your hands with warm water and soap?

2. Infer a) What difference does warm water make? b) What difference does soap make? c) Which group was most successful in removing the “germs” from their hands? Why? d) How might hand washing affect the health of your friends and classmates? e) What else helped to remove the “germs” from your hands? f) What should we do if we don’t have soap and clean, running water? g) Where can you get germs from?

h) What do we need to remember when shaking hands with friends? i) What diseases could we spread if we don’t properly wash our hands?

3. Transfer a) What is the best way to wash our hands?

1. Water temperature?

2. Soap?

3. Time?

4. Hand movements?

5. Frequency?

b) What else can we do to stop the spread of germs?

Take it Home:

Invite students to create Hand Washing posters to hang in their home or school bathrooms and

kitchens.

Key Words

zoonosis (zoh-uh-noh-sis) pl. zoonoses: a disease that can pass between people and animals; also

called a zoonotic disease.

Influenza (in-floo-en-zuh ) (Flu): a virus that usually causes fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body

aches, headaches, fatigue, and sometimes even vomiting and diarrhea in people.

Salmonella (sal-muh-nel-uh): a kind of bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever, and stomach pain in

people.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) (ee koh-lahy): a kind of bacteria that can cause severe stomach cramps,

diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting in people

Microorganism (mahy-kroh-awr-guh-niz-uh m): a very small living organism that can be the cause of

infectious diseases in people and animals. Bacteria and viruses are 2 types of microorganisms.

Epidemiologist (ep-i-dee-mee-ol-uh-jest): a scientist who works in public or animal health.

Epidemiologists are in charge of investigating disease outbreaks and protecting the health and safety of

groups of people and animals. Epidemiologists can also be called Disease Detectives.

Public Health: the science of protecting and improving the health of groups of people (like

families and communities).

“High Risk” People: People who for one reason or another are at higher risk of getting seriously sick

from diseases. Young children (less than 5 years of age), older persons (65 years of age or older), and

people with weakened immune systems or medical conditions (such as asthma or heart disease) whose

bodies are less able to fight off diseases are more likely than others to develop severe illness from many

zoonoses.

Outbreak: When many people or animals get sick at one time with the same disease, usually in the same

place.

Career Spotlight

Epidemiologist

These “Disease Detectives” are ready to respond at a moment’s notice to track down diseases and stop

them from spreading. Epidemiologists use math, science, and detective skills to figure out why people

get sick and how to keep them healthy. To figure out what’s making people sick, they’ll look for clues,

like where people were and what they did before they got sick. When they figure out what made people

sick, they take action to stop the outbreak. Many Epidemiologists get trained as Epidemic Intelligence

Service (EIS) Officers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). EIS Officers are doctors,

scientists, and veterinarians who help with health emergencies, track down disease outbreaks, and

tackle some of the biggest health problems in the world, like smoking and heart disease. Recently, EIS

Officers solved a very large outbreak of Salmonella infections in the United States when they figured out

that people were getting sick from bad peanut butter!

Public Health Laboratorian

These scientists play a very important role in keeping the public healthy, and Outbreak Investigators

could not do their work without them. Laboratorians do science experiments to answer questions about

diseases and how to prevent them. They can figure out things like whether a germ or toxin is making

someone sick, which people have a certain disease, and whether things in our environment, like food,

water, or air, might have something in them that makes people sick. They also do experiments to help

prevent diseases from happening and to treat people if they get sick. Many Public Health Laboratorians

have training in life sciences, computers, and medicine.

Local Health Officer

Local health officers are the people who help keep your city or county healthy. They watch for diseases

in your community, and they’re often the first public health people to notice when something strange is

happening, like an outbreak of infections. They may help run programs in your area to keep people

healthy, like making sure kids at your school get nutritious lunches or helping families get their flu shot

in the fall. Local Health Officers pay close attention to the health needs of people in your area, and they

design health programs to meet their particular needs. Most Local Health Officers live in the

communities in which they work, and they often get to know the people they serve very well. Many

have training in medicine or science, and they’re also usually great at communicating with people.

Veterinarian

Most people think of veterinarians as doctors who take care of pets like your cat or dog, or animals on

the farm like, goats, cows and pigs. But did you know that when they do this, they are not only helping

protect the health of animals, but they are also helping protect the health of people, too? For example,

veterinarians in private practice and other areas of veterinary medicine make sure your food is safe by

keeping the animals we use for food healthy and making sure that the food that comes from animals is

safe. They also work as outbreak investigators to prevent animal and human disease outbreaks caused

by microorganisms such as Salmonella, E. coli, influenza, rabies, and West Nile viral encephalitis. There

are veterinary laboratorians, too. Veterinarians are able to use their training in many ways to help both

animals and people stay healthy.

Illustration 1 (one of the two influenza mock-ups below)

These are mock-ups to provide direction to the Friends Magazine illustrator in designing one or two

cartoon illustrations depicting transmission of zoonoses, pathogenesis in humans and signs and

symptoms in humans and animals.

Illustration 2 (in addition to one of the influenza mock-ups)