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New Brunswick, NJ --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today brought together local officials from towns in his congressional district to discuss how they can best prepare for a potential avian flu outbreak. The New Jersey congressman, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, warned local officials that the federal government is not as prepared as it should be, and therefore local and state governments must prepare to act in the event of a national pandemic.
In 1997, a dangerous strain of influenza known as the H5N1 avian flu was first discovered in birds in Asia. Since then, the avian flu has spread to both birds and humans in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, and there is now concern that birds migrating from Europe to Greenland could spread the epidemic to birds here in North America. Currently, about 200 people worldwide have contracted the disease, with over half of them dieing.
"If a pandemic hit the U.S. today we would be woefully unprepared," Pallone said. "Local officials need to realize that the federal government simply will not have the resources in place to manage every aspect of an avian flu crisis. Preparing for an outbreak must be a top priority for all levels of government. We must work together to prepare ourselves and our constituents for the worst- case scenario."
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the worst-case scenario would entail an 18-month long crisis where as many as 1.9 million Americans could be killed. The last major pandemic flu killed more than 50 million people worldwide in 1918. Locally, in the case of a "mild pandemic", public health experts predict that over 2 million New Jerseyans would be infected, resulting in nearly 73,000 hospitalizations and 17,000 deaths.
In order to address a potential crisis, Pallone said the federal government must step up and help state and local governments prepare. The New Jersey congressman suggested three areas where the federal government could be most helpful. First, Pallone said the federal government must provide more funding to improve vaccine development technology and increase manufacturing capacity.
Second, he said the Bush administration must make sure it has enough anti-viral medicine stockpiled to treat as many Americans as possible. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends having enough antiviral medicines to treat 25-percent of our nation's population, or 81 million doses. Currently, the Strategic National Stockpile has only 5.1 million doses of Tamiflu. The administration's goal is to have a total of 51 million doses by late 2008.
Third, Pallone said the federal government must provide more funding to state and local governments for planning activities. To date, President Bush has proposed spending only $100 million for state and local preparedness efforts, leaving New Jersey a grant of $500,000 to monitor the spread of the disease, to treat and contain the disease, and to cope with a potentially overwhelmed health system. The president also requires states to purchase antiviral medications like Tamiflu and Relenza.
"If the Bush administration expects state and local governments to be on the front lines of combating the pandemic, it must step forward and provide additional financial assistance beyond the inadequate $500,000 that is now being proposed," Pallone said.
Pallone was joined at today's discussion by Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, Deputy Commissioner / State Epidemiologist for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Dr. Donald DiFerdinando, Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Valerie Sellers, Senior Vice President of Health Planning and Research for the New Jersey Hospital Association, Walter Gramm, Executive Director of the New Jersey Business Force, and Mike McGuire, Vice-President of Marketing for Roche Pharmaceuticals. |
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