U of M Mortuary Science Update

By Michael LuBrant, Program Director

As we enter a new year in the Program of Mortuary Science, many exciting things are happening here at the U! Looking to 2020, we are planning an ambitious agenda for the goal of continuing to build and strengthen our work in funeral service education. Last year, we offered our first on-line course to our students: Microbiology and Pathology. We were able to make this course available on-line thanks to the University’s recent adoption of Zoom and Canvas software technology. This technology allows us to present coursework on-line in both synchronous and asynchronous formats, for the convenience of our students. Michael Mathews, who for 43 years has served as an outstanding faculty member, took the lead in making this course available completely on-line for the first time this past summer. Michael is now finalizing work with his chemistry course, which will go on-line this upcoming spring semester. And in the near future, his Rules and Regulations course will also be offered on-line. Our Program is working closely with both the University and UPCEA (the University Professional and Continuing Education Association) to create on-line learning opportunities so that our Program can be accessible to a greater number of students, both here in Minnesota, and across the country (and world!). As we see the number of prospective mortuary science students who seek to pursue online learning opportunities grow, we are actively planning to create opportunities here at the U for world-class online mortuary science coursework. Additionally, we are investigating options for the creation of an American Board of Funeral Service Education-accredited certificate program that will meet the needs of prospective students who wish to practice funeral service in states that have educational licensure requirements that are different than those we have here in Minnesota. It is truly an exciting time to be in higher education, because the opportunities to expand our coursework offerings using distance learning technology mean that more students than ever before will be able to access a funeral service education here at the U. Now that’s something to celebrate in the New Year! We are also please to share news that we are expanding our teaching staff. We welcome Carrie McGhee, who is joining us to teach coursework in funeral service business, marketing, management, and funeral arrangements. Other individuals who are joining us this spring include several licensed morticians actively working in funeral service, who will teach in the areas of embalming, restorative art, and clinical rotation education. These appointments will be finalized soon, and we will announce the names of our new teaching staff once all of our onboarding work is complete. We are especially excited to welcome instructors who continue to work actively within our profession. The experience they will share with our students, rooted in their current clinical practice, will continue to strengthen our educational efforts for the goal of ensuring a relevant, practical learning experience for mortuary science students here at the U. As always, we encourage you to visit both our website and Facebook page often for news of upcoming events, activities, and other happenings. We look forward to seeing you at state association conventions this spring, and, as always, invite your e-mails, phone calls, and visits at any time. With all best wishes for a very Happy New Year to you and yours! Sincerely, Michael LuBrant Program Director

By the National Funeral Directors Association

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak caused by a novel (new) coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Chinese authorities first identified the new coronavirus, which has resulted in close to 300 confirmed human infections in China with several deaths reported. A number of countries, including the United States, have been actively screening incoming travelers from Wuhan and exported human infections with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Thailand, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The United States announced its first infection with 2019-nCoV detected in a traveler returning from Wuhan. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect people and then spread between people, such as has been seen with MERS and SARS. Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China, reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal-toperson spread. However, a growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, suggesting limited person-to-person spread is occurring, though it’s unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people. Both MERS and SARS have been known to cause severe illness in people. The situation with regard to 2019-nCoV is still unclear. While severe illness, including illness resulting in a number of deaths, has been reported in China, many other patients have had milder illness and been discharged. There are ongoing investigations to learn more. This is a rapidly evolving situation and information will be updated as it becomes available.

2019-nCoV in the U.S The CDC announced Tuesday afternoon that the first case of 2019-nCoV has been reported in the United States, in Washington state. The man returned to the Seattle area in the middle of last week after traveling to Wuhan, China. The Snohomish County resident is in his 30s and was in good condition Tuesday at a hospital in Everett, outside Seattle. He’s not considered a threat to medical staff or the public, health officials said. Late last week, U.S. health officials began screening passengers from Wuhan at three U.S. airports — New York City’s Kennedy airport and the Los Angeles and San Francisco airports. On Tuesday, the CDC announced it will add Chicago’s O’Hare airport and Atlanta’s airport to the mix later this week.

Risk Assessment Outbreaks of novel virus infections among people are always of public health concern. The risk from these outbreaks depends on characteristics of the virus, including whether and how well it spreads between people, the severity of resulting illness, and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, vaccine or treatment medications). There is much more to learn about how 2019-nCoV spreads, severity of associated illness, and other features of the virus. Investigations are ongoing. While CDC considers this is a serious public health concern, based on current information, the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV to the general American public is considered low at this time. Nevertheless, CDC is taking proactive preparedness precautions.

What to Expect Access to the full genetic sequence of 2019-nCoV will help identify infections with this virus going forward. More cases may be identified in the coming days, including more in countries outside China, including possibly more cases in the United States. Given what has occurred previously with MERS and SARS, it’s likely that some limited person-toperson spread will continue to occur.