Interesting little News McNugget: Feds plan for next superflu
An interesting read. Let me hit the highlights:
WASHINGTON – The United States may have to close schools, restrict travel and ration scarce medications if a powerful new flu strain spurs a worldwide outbreak, according to federal plans for the next pandemic, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.
The federal plans have been long-awaited by flu specialists, who say it’s only a matter of time before the next pandemic strikes and the nation is woefully unprepared.
There have been three flu pandemics in the last century, the worst in 1918, when more than half a million Americans and 20 million people worldwide died.
Concern is rising that the next pandemic could be triggered by the recurring bird flu in Asia, if it mutates in a way that lets it spread easily among people.
Millions of sick patients could swarm doctors’ offices and hospitals, says the plan, which stresses that states and hospitals must figure out now how they would free up hospital beds and perform triage.
There could also be an economic and social wallop from disruption of transportation, commerce, even routine public safety, warns the plan, to be released Thursday by the Health and Human Services Department.
Depending on where a pandemic begins and how virulent it seems, the first protections probably will include travel restrictions, schools closures, restrictions on public gatherings and even quarantines to limit the spread of infection, Gerberding said.
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My grandmothers sister died in the big flu epidemic of 1918.
But, my point…
So the feds are planning on how to isolate and quarnatine folks, shuffle resources and personnel, etc. Interesting. Heres the conspiracy theory part – these are the exact same precautions you would take if it werent bird flu but, say, some sort of bio-weapon. Could it be possible that the feds are actually planning a scenarion not about the flu but rather about a bioweapon release? And they cover their preperations with the flu angle to keep from alarming the populace? If they issued directives to hospitals and other organizations about how to run quarantines and isolations because of the release of some germ warfare contaminant we’d have all sortsa uproar…so they cover it by saying its about the flu.
Or, it may be that they are actually concerned about the flu. But even if thats so, if someone like me can see the parallel use of this plan then you can bet someone in Washington is saying ‘hey, lets add a few other goodies to this plan so we can use it as a model for a germ attack’.
Various parts of the federal government have contingency plans up the ying yang for everything you could imagine and a lot of things you couldn’t. This is just one. It’s probably very similar to any other plans agencies might have that would involve dealing with some contagious vector or other, including attacks of one kind or another. It’s been made public because so many people in the health care and local government sectors are affected, and they need time to coordinate the whole thing at all levels. Planning that works for flu would, as you say, be useful for anything contagious. But only if it’s actually ready to go when the balloon drops.
My dad lived through the 1918 flu epidemic, and it was not a fun thing. Things spread so much faster now with all the air travel – just look at how fast SARS spread. I commend them for trying to get ahead of the problem.
You’ve been reading King’s The Stand again, haven’t you? Too credible.
My grandmother lost a sister to the 1918 epidemic, too.