C
Captain Compassion
Guest
U.S. not scared enough of bird flu, Senate told
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bird flu poses as big a threat to the world as
ever, and people need to worry about it more, U.S. senators and health
leaders agreed on Wednesday.
The H5N1 avian flu virus could cause a human pandemic at any time,
killing perhaps millions, yet preparations are slow, they told a
Senate hearing.
Federal health officials said they were working to raise preparedness,
although progress has been slowed by budget limitations and the
generally poor state of public health in the United States.
"I am concerned that there is not as much public awareness or concern
today as there was a year ago," Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen
Specter told the hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on
health.
"You don't want to unduly alarm people. (But) I think people are
unconcerned."
Part of the reason may be influenza's seasonal nature. A year ago,
H5N1 in birds was bursting out of Asia and making a quick march across
Europe, eventually reaching the Middle East and into Africa.
But it did not spread much in the summer and autumn.
It has started to become more active again. Hungary confirmed an
outbreak in geese on Wednesday, the European Union's first case this
year.
Five people have died of the H5N1 virus in Indonesia since January 1,
and new cases in poultry have been reported in Japan, Thailand and
Vietnam. China, Egypt and South Korea have also reported cases in
recent weeks, with three new human cases in Egypt and one death there
this year.
H5N1 is known to have infected 269 people worldwide since late 2003
and of these, 163 have died.
"People who fail to prepare for a flu pandemic are going to be
tragically mistaken," Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the hearing.
"It is inevitable," she added. "I don't know when and I don't know
which virus will be the culprit."
MUTATING AND EVOLVING
H5N1 is currently the most likely, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the
U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"It's moving biologically," Gerberding said. "It's mutating and
evolving."
She said the CDC would encourage states to act out pandemic scenarios.
"We think this is ultimately the best way to end up with the
preparedness we need," she said.
Gerberding said a delay in passing 2007 spending bills has hurt
efforts to prepare. Congress is currently funding the agencies through
what are known as continuing resolutions, not permanent budget
commitments.
Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives hopes to pass a
continuing resolution stretching through the end of the fiscal year,
September 30.
And public health had been neglected for decades in the United States.
"We were in a very deep hole on the state and local level," Gerberding
said. "We were starting from behind."
Health experts want more people to get seasonal influenza vaccines,
both to protect themselves and encourage more companies to make flu
vaccine.
Roche and Co., which makes the flu drug Tamiflu, said on Wednesday
only 29 U.S. states had ordered Tamiflu so far and few had ordered
their full allocation. But the company said it had sold the drug to
more than 300 companies and increased its global production capacity
for Tamiflu 10-fold to 400 million treatment courses annually.
--
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bird flu poses as big a threat to the world as
ever, and people need to worry about it more, U.S. senators and health
leaders agreed on Wednesday.
The H5N1 avian flu virus could cause a human pandemic at any time,
killing perhaps millions, yet preparations are slow, they told a
Senate hearing.
Federal health officials said they were working to raise preparedness,
although progress has been slowed by budget limitations and the
generally poor state of public health in the United States.
"I am concerned that there is not as much public awareness or concern
today as there was a year ago," Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen
Specter told the hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on
health.
"You don't want to unduly alarm people. (But) I think people are
unconcerned."
Part of the reason may be influenza's seasonal nature. A year ago,
H5N1 in birds was bursting out of Asia and making a quick march across
Europe, eventually reaching the Middle East and into Africa.
But it did not spread much in the summer and autumn.
It has started to become more active again. Hungary confirmed an
outbreak in geese on Wednesday, the European Union's first case this
year.
Five people have died of the H5N1 virus in Indonesia since January 1,
and new cases in poultry have been reported in Japan, Thailand and
Vietnam. China, Egypt and South Korea have also reported cases in
recent weeks, with three new human cases in Egypt and one death there
this year.
H5N1 is known to have infected 269 people worldwide since late 2003
and of these, 163 have died.
"People who fail to prepare for a flu pandemic are going to be
tragically mistaken," Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the hearing.
"It is inevitable," she added. "I don't know when and I don't know
which virus will be the culprit."
MUTATING AND EVOLVING
H5N1 is currently the most likely, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the
U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"It's moving biologically," Gerberding said. "It's mutating and
evolving."
She said the CDC would encourage states to act out pandemic scenarios.
"We think this is ultimately the best way to end up with the
preparedness we need," she said.
Gerberding said a delay in passing 2007 spending bills has hurt
efforts to prepare. Congress is currently funding the agencies through
what are known as continuing resolutions, not permanent budget
commitments.
Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives hopes to pass a
continuing resolution stretching through the end of the fiscal year,
September 30.
And public health had been neglected for decades in the United States.
"We were in a very deep hole on the state and local level," Gerberding
said. "We were starting from behind."
Health experts want more people to get seasonal influenza vaccines,
both to protect themselves and encourage more companies to make flu
vaccine.
Roche and Co., which makes the flu drug Tamiflu, said on Wednesday
only 29 U.S. states had ordered Tamiflu so far and few had ordered
their full allocation. But the company said it had sold the drug to
more than 300 companies and increased its global production capacity
for Tamiflu 10-fold to 400 million treatment courses annually.
--
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
