Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON, May 26 (AFP) - US health authorities are taking urgent precautions against a 'flu pandemic' that experts warned Thursday could erupt at any time and claim tens of thousands of lives.
Top health officials warned that the United States was ill-prepared to counter a pandemic which could come from a mutation of the bird flu H5N1 that has badly hit Asia.
Julie Gerberding, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that even a "medium level pandemic" in the United States could result in 89,000-207,000 deaths and up to 734,000 people people being hospitalised.
"A pandemic can occur any time during the year and can last much longer than seasonal influenza," she told a Congress health subcommittee.
The H5N1 avarian flu has killed 54 people in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia and millions of chickens and other fowl have been slaughtered.
According to the World Health Organisation, 97 humans have caught the virus though doctors do not believe it can be transmitted from human-to-human.
The experts highlighted that the unpredictable nature of the timing of the pandemic was one of the worst obstacles.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned the House of Representatives panel of a potential global crisis.
"Although we cannot be certain exactly when the next influenza pandemic will occur, we can be virtually certain that one will occur and that the resulting morbidity, mortality, and economic disruption will present extraordinary challenges to public health authorities around the world," he said.
But he said the CDC, Federal Drug Administration other government agencies and pharmaceutical companies were now working together to try to make sure there are sufficient supplies of vaccines and other medicines.
According to Gerberding, between 15 percent and 35 percent of the US population would be affected by a flu pandemic and the cost to the US economy would be between 71 billion and 166 billion dollars.
js/tw/jlp
US-health-flu
COPYRIGHT 2005 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
