Boulder-based Exabyte Corp., a data-storage provider, and warehouse leaser ProLogis, of Aurora, share at least one business worry: avian flu.
Exabyte and ProLogis are among more than a dozen Colorado-based companies, including Newmont Mining Corp. and CH2M Hill, with employees in Asia – ground zero for the disease.
The H5N1 virus that causes bird flu has infected 133 humans and killed 68 – in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and China, according to the World Health Organization.
Public-health officials warn a pandemic could infect millions if human-to-human transmission of the disease – now spread primarily by fowl – becomes common.
Companies like Exabyte, with employees in Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing, and ProLogis, with staff in China, Japan and Korea, are implementing a variety of strategies.
“Exabyte takes this very seriously,” said company spokesman Bill Marino.
Two years ago, Marino said, employees were shocked when a Chinese consultant to the Boulder company died during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in Asia.
The 2003 SARS outbreak forced travel restrictions and facility shutdowns that cost Asian economies $28 billion, according to the Asian Development Bank.
Exabyte now has instructed employees, especially those living in or visiting rural areas of Asia, to be diligent about hand-washing and urged workers to stock up on antivirals such as the Roche-manufactured Tamiflu.
The company is monitoring public-health alerts about the spread of bird flu and encouraging employees to do the same. “They are certainly not going to be taken by surprise,” Marino said.
ProLogis will rely on an internal telecommunications network to keep business moving in the event of an outbreak, said Arthur Hodges, a spokesman.
ProLogis, which leases warehouses to large retailers and shipping companies, such as Wal-Mart and Federal Express, has 100 employees in China, South Korea and Japan.
The company would immediately restrict travel to areas affected by a flu outbreak, Hodges said.
“We have the ability to have people stay home and work from home,” he said. “And we do have a relatively small workforce in Asia, which gives us the ability to react very quickly.”
Some U.S. companies have been slow to respond to the flu threat, but reports of human cases have begun to spur action, said Tim Daniel, an executive with healthcare consultant International SOS.
International SOS clients include Nortel Networks Corp., General Motors Corp. and General Mills Inc.
“In early 2005 we started to see some of the corporate headquarters back here in the U.S. start to take notice,” Daniel said.
Engineering and construction firm CH2M Hill, based in Englewood, has several offices in China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
The company does not have a formal bird-flu plan but “takes the threat of a pandemic seriously,” said Lee Overcamp, member of CH2M Hill’s pandemic response team.
“We are monitoring a variety of information sources, such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and health ministries worldwide, and are currently addressing contingency plans,” Overcamp said.
Newmont, an international gold mining company with operations in Asia and Indonesia, is in the early stages of designing a complete avian-flu program, said company spokeswoman Heatheryn Higgins.
“We have the documentation and plans drafted, and the next step is to engage our employees,” she said.
An avian-influenza pandemic could cost the global economy $800 billion a year, according to World Bank senior economist Milan Brahmbhatt.
“This could come at you from any direction,” said Daniel. “It’s not just a China-Hong Kong problem.”
Staff writer Marsha Austin can be reached at 303-820-1242 or maustin@denverpost.com.
