Safety

Experts: U.S. slow to address bird flu threat

Emergency Management Alert, May 31, 2005

If the bird flu virus turned up in the United States today, health officials wouldn't have the tools to combat it, infectious disease experts told lawmakers in Congress last week.

The Bush administration has underestimated the global threat of the H5N1 strain, experts say, and the U.S. government's move to stockpile antiviral drugs to fight off a possible pandemic is inadequate.

Government officials defended their actions in front of Congress, saying a complete national plan will be in place by the end of the summer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that the virus is evolving, and may soon show potential for human-to-human transmission. The national stockpile of 2.3 million doses of antiviral drugs is enough to treat less than 1% of the population.

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