US Preparing for Possible H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic
By LISA SCHLEIN
Voice of America - Special to Your World Report
A senior U.S. health official urges countries to adopt aggressive measures to
contain the A-H1N1 swine flu virus. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen
Sebelius says everyone must cooperate in this activity because disease knows no borders.
 A debate is raging at the
World Health Assembly as to whether the WHO should raise its international influenza alert
from phase five to phase six, which would trigger a global pandemic alert.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius says the United States
believes WHO should have the flexibility to decide this matter.
She notes the United States already is taking measures consistent with phase six. So,
raising the level of alert, she says, would not trigger any additional activity.
"The term pandemic is more about geography than severity and it is not an indication
necessarily of the lethality of the disease," she said. "It is about how many
regions in the world the disease is confirmed. At least at this point, the flu is
presenting itself as relatively mild. We are cautiously optimistic that at this phase that
that is what looks to be how it is being presented."
Sebelius notes there are many uncertainties surrounding this new virus. For instance, she
says no one knows what will happen if the virus mutates. One scenario is that it could
become more severe.
She says what happens next depends largely on what happens in the southern hemisphere as
the H1N1 virus begins circulating during their flu season.
She notes, every year millions of people become ill and about 36,000 die from seasonal flu
in the United States. And, this she says is occurring in a country where people have
fairly good access to health treatment.
"What happens with that kind of flu outbreak in the developing nations, in refugee
camps or where there is not access to sanitation and clean water," added Sebelius.
"Or the underlying health conditions are already in very difficult shape. It could be
quite severe. So, we will learn a lot from the southern hemisphere."
The U.S. health minister says it is premature to make decisions about producing an H1N1
vaccine because of all the uncertainty. Nevertheless, she says work on vaccine development
is under way.
She says labs are testing various strains to see which might be most appropriate for a
potential vaccine. And, these strains, she says are being shared with laboratories around
the world.
She says the United States is accelerating the production of seasonal flu vaccine, so
there would be more capacity to produce a swine flu vaccine should that become necessary.
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