Avian flu preparedness

Look here for a link to the Government Accountability Office 60-page report on U.S. preparedness for pathogenic Avian Influenza. More than 60 countries have AI, - the U.S. has had three pathogenic AI outbreaks in the last 100 years - and it is probably a matter of time before the U.S. again faces the bird disease that some fear could mutate to a global killer.
The GAO said the virus has infected 291 humans, and more than half have died.
From the report:

Health experts are concerned that should highly pathogenic H5N1 (or another subtype), to which humans have no immunity, develop the capacity to spread easily from person to person, a pandemic could occur.


Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., was unsparing in her criticism of the USDA in a news release today.
From her office:

The GAO identified four areas of concern in the USDA’s response plans. This includes a failure to identify the entities responsible for carrying out critical tasks, the resources needed, and the provider of those resources; missing components from state plans and states are most likely to discover and initially respond to an outbreak; no advance consideration for issues, like birds raised in backyards, that could increase difficulties in containing the outbreak; and no attention to the amount or source of antiviral medication necessary to protect the health and safety of responders during an outbreak.

“I am very disappointed by the findings in the GAO report about the lack of planning at USDA to prepare for an avian flu outbreak, especially considering the previous shortcomings GAO found in USDA’s avian flu plans."

TK; The risk of an uncontrolled outbreak is one reason DeLauro wants Congress to reject poultry product imports from China, Still, the GAO was more balanced in its appraisal of USDA's performance than DeLauro's comments would have you believe.