| U.S. Tries to Pre-empt Bird Flu Fears
Officials Say Infected Birds May Be Found in
U.S. This Year By Todd Zwillich
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Monday, March 20, 2006
March 20, 2006 - Wary of public panic if bird
flu reaches U.S. shores, Bush administration officials
Monday sought to explain to Americans -- and the
media -- what infected birds do and do not mean.
Top officials responsible for responding to a
bird flu outbreak said they fully expect migratory
birds carrying the H5N1 virus to arrive on U.S.
soil. They are focusing on flyways used by birds
that winter in South Asia but spend springs and
summers in Alaska.
Experts expect infected wild birds to reach the
U.S. "possibly as early as this year,"
said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Norton said
that between 20 and 100 preliminary positive tests
indicating H5N1 infection could be seen by the
end of the year.
Preserving Public Confidence
But officials are also keenly aware of how easily
health scares can damage public confidence. Fears
over a 2003 SARS outbreak devastated Asian and
Canadian tourist and hospitality industries when
millions of would-be travelers refused to visit.
One of the key ways migratory birds are thought
to have spread H5N1 is by mixing with domestic
livestock. So far bird flu has sickened at least
177 people and killed at least 98, according to
the World Health Organization.
U.S. officials are trying hard to head off any
potential boycott of the $29 billion-per-year
American poultry industry when migratory birds
finally are detected on domestic soil.
On Monday officials resorted to basic public
relations methods to drive their message home.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns repeated a
version of a single statement no less than half
a dozen times while speaking to reporters.
"A detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1
virus in birds does not signal the start of a
pandemic in people," he said.
But officials' concerns over public perception
may be well-placed. Public health preparations
that include stockpiling of drugs and vaccines
are still years from completion. And while wild
bird migrations can't be controlled, public fear
-- at least at first -- is likely to pose a larger
threat than does the flu virus.
Bird Flu Facts
On Monday officials stressed several key facts:
first, most American chickens and turkeys live
in factory farm enclosures that completely isolate
them from wild birds. Second, plans are in place
to kill or vaccinate domestic flocks should infected
birds be found. Third, properly cooking poultry
completely kills H5N1 viruses. Fourth, the virus
still has not shown the ability to efficiently
pass between people, a necessary ingredient for
a human epidemic.
Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt
is in the middle of a months-long national tour
evaluating state and local pandemic flu readiness
plans. He has called on individuals and local
authorities to prepare, noting that the federal
government will never be able to operate in thousands
of communities at once if a pandemic does break
out.
Leavitt has sounded many of the same public messages
as Norton and Johanns. But he also expressed a
sobering note: "No one in the world is well
prepared for a pandemic."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCES: Gale A. Norton, Secretary of the Interior.
Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture. Michael
O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services.
World Health Organization.
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