Experts: World unprepared for flu pandemic
McClatchy News ServiceJun. 16, 2005 05:34 PM
WASHINGTON -- The world is ill-prepared for an overdue influenza pandemic that threatens to kill millions and shut down the global economy, a panel of health experts said Thursday.
The panelists urged the government to start developing plans for how to deal with the next strain of flu virus.
"Make no mistake about it: Of all the infectious diseases influenza is the lion king," said University of Minnesota public health professor Michael Osterholm. "I don't know what else to say except, 'We're screwed.' " advertisement
Avian bird flu already has killed chickens in Southeast Asia, and panelists warned the virus could be poised to jump to humans in the next several years.
They couldn't predict exactly when a pandemic might strike, but they did say it would be disastrous if governments around the world don't ratchet up research and preparedness efforts immediately.
"This is not going to go away," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Get rid of the 'if.' This is going to occur."
Here in the United States, Osterholm said, the government must have specific plans in place should the virus hit. For example, it must know whether schools would close, how hospitals would handle an overflow of patients and whether planes and subways would be shut down.
It also must be prepared to deal with a total collapse of the global economy, which Americans depend on for day-to-day life, he said.
The most recent flu pandemic happened in 1918, when 30 million to 40 million people died worldwide.
That cycle could be beginning again, as the new flu strain in Asia has proved 100 percent lethal in chickens, said Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Given the amount of contact between humans and chickens there, health experts are "very nervous" about the virus spreading, Garrett said.
No humans are immune to the new strain, she said, and scientists have yet to develop a cost-effective vaccine that could be distributed worldwide.
Because the flu spreads rapidly and has historically proven so deadly, governments must act now, Fauci said.
"It's got to be a global effort to change the ingredients," he said.
WASHINGTON -- The world is ill-prepared for an overdue influenza pandemic that threatens to kill millions and shut down the global economy, a panel of health experts said Thursday.
The panelists urged the government to start developing plans for how to deal with the next strain of flu virus.
"Make no mistake about it: Of all the infectious diseases influenza is the lion king," said University of Minnesota public health professor Michael Osterholm. "I don't know what else to say except, 'We're screwed.' " advertisement
Avian bird flu already has killed chickens in Southeast Asia, and panelists warned the virus could be poised to jump to humans in the next several years.
They couldn't predict exactly when a pandemic might strike, but they did say it would be disastrous if governments around the world don't ratchet up research and preparedness efforts immediately.
"This is not going to go away," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Get rid of the 'if.' This is going to occur."
Here in the United States, Osterholm said, the government must have specific plans in place should the virus hit. For example, it must know whether schools would close, how hospitals would handle an overflow of patients and whether planes and subways would be shut down.
It also must be prepared to deal with a total collapse of the global economy, which Americans depend on for day-to-day life, he said.
The most recent flu pandemic happened in 1918, when 30 million to 40 million people died worldwide.
That cycle could be beginning again, as the new flu strain in Asia has proved 100 percent lethal in chickens, said Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Given the amount of contact between humans and chickens there, health experts are "very nervous" about the virus spreading, Garrett said.
No humans are immune to the new strain, she said, and scientists have yet to develop a cost-effective vaccine that could be distributed worldwide.
Because the flu spreads rapidly and has historically proven so deadly, governments must act now, Fauci said.
"It's got to be a global effort to change the ingredients," he said.
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