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U.S. Said Unready for Super-Flu Pandemic

Posted on: Sunday, 20 November 2005, 12:00 CST

WASHINGTON - The U.S. is unprepared for the next flu pandemic, lacking the manufacturing capacity to provide 300 million doses of a vaccine for three to five more years, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said Sunday.

"What we all learned from (Hurricane) Katrina is sometimes we have to think clearly about the unthinkable," Leavitt said. "We're probably closer to a pandemic at any time in the last 37 years. We're not as prepared as we need to be."

A strain of a bird flu that has killed 67 people in Asia has sparked concerns of a super-flu that could kill millions worldwide.

While stressing that chances remain slight, health experts say it could lead to a global pandemic if the bird flu mutates to start spreading easily among people.

"I can't put a number on how likely," said Anthony Fauci, director of the infectious disease division of the National Institutes of Health. "It's probably a low probability. When the consequences are unimaginable, you have to assume the worst-case scenario."

The U.S., which has not seen any signs of the strain in birds or people, has only enough doses now for 4.3 million people. President Bush has proposed stockpiling enough of the anti-flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza for 81 million people.

Leavitt said the low supplies means state and local governments will have to make tough choices on how best to allocate the vaccine should an outbreak occur. The federal government has suggested top priority be given to first responders.

Leavitt and Fauci appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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