Plan To Combat Bird Flu Put Into Effect
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Mayor Bloomberg and the federal Department of Health and Human Services signed off yesterday on a plan that outlines how a bird flu pandemic would be handled were it to ever hit the city.
The city released its preparedness plan earlier this month. As part of the agreement signed yesterday, the federal government will provide a grant of $8.2 million, along with guidance and technical aid in planning for the worst.
Mr. Bloomberg and the HHS secretary, Michael Leavitt, inked the accord after meeting for an hour with city commissioners, federal health officials, and others to discuss priorities in a crisis, and the latest research into vaccines for bird flu.
Both officials sought to toe the line between encouraging people to plan now for an outbreak and downplaying any impending danger. “Right now, there is no pandemic flu,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
Still, Mr. Leavitt said: “Pandemics happen. They have for centuries.”
While the secretary said the government was on track to reach its goal of stockpiling 81 million courses of the Tamiflu medication by the end of next year, he acknowledged that would not be sufficient. “This virus continues to spread, and it continues to mutate,” he said.
