Pandemic influenza: state and local efforts to prepare: hearing before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local

Original publisher: Washington: U.S. G.P.O.: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 2008. LC Number: KF26 .H637 2007b OCLC Number: (OCoLC)247097873 Subject: Influenza -- United States -- States -- Management. Excerpt: ... 11 your concerns about the possibility of pandemic influenza outbreak not only in our country but around the world, and also because of the prediction that was made by WHO in 2004 about the concern about A H5N1 outbreak and how deadly it would be and what a disaster that would be. So I was glad to note that last month, the Department of Home-land Security conducted a National Preparedness Month campaign and 1,700 State and local-level organizations participated in that, and this week, Senator Pryor and I have had respective hearings in our Subcommittees on pandemic flu. So I am glad that we are giving it that kind of focus. Admiral it is good to see you. ANDERWAGEN Admiral V. [ In Hawaiian. ] Senator A. Aloha. According to the CDC, Admiral, among KAKA the three flu strains it is preparing for in the 2007 and 2008 sea-son, one is type AH3N2. This strain is linked to the 1968 Hong Kong pandemic flu, noted as the deadliest flu in the past 30 years, which killed two million people worldwide. What is the outlook for this upcoming season, and are we prepared for this type of influ-enza? Admiral V. Well, as you know, vaccines are pro-ANDERWAGEN duced, or they have to begin production about 6 months before the season actually arrives, and so the folks who are prognosticating these things, looking at the epidemiology, try and pick those virus strains that are most likely to appear. Sometimes you don't get ab-solutely the right one. One of the things that we are seeing in the Southern Hemisphere right now is a virus that we may not have full protection from. We think that the influenza viruses that we have will provide pretty good coverage for it, but we are seeing in the Southern Hemisphere a pretty tough influenza season. As you know, in a rout...