White House unveils new emergency plan for flu pandemic
Thu May 4, 2006 01:03
[May 03, 2006]
White House unveils new emergency plan for flu pandemic
(New York Daily News (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) NEW YORK _ If a deadly new flu outbreak sweeps across the country, New York and other communities shouldn't look to the feds to come to the rescue, the White House said Wednesday.
The sobering message, contained in a government emergency plan unveiled Wednesday, prompted Mayor Bloomberg to note the city was close to completing its own pandemic strategy.
"It is a very complex problem, and there are no easy answers," Bloomberg said, adding that trying to prepare for the outbreak of a novel strain of flu was like trying to hit a "moving target."
But the federal plan _ the second phase of a $7.1 billion initiative announced in November _ quickly drew fire from public health experts and other elected officials for shifting too much of the burden of fighting a deadly epidemic onto local authorities and even private businesses.
"This is an international problem that calls for a federal response _ pawning it off on the state and local government is not a solution," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.
A worst-case scenario estimates 2 million Americans could die during a pandemic.
The 230-page document instructs hospitals to prepare for a surge of seriously ill patients during a pandemic. It also tells essential businesses to find ways to keep running even if 40 percent of its employees are out sick.
Federal authorities would coordinate resources such as vaccines and anti-viral drugs. But the document had a blunt message for those on the front lines: "Local communities will have to address the medical and nonmedical effects of the pandemic with available resources."
"The President's pandemic plan is long on scary scenarios but short on specifics for how we will make sure we can respond adequately when crisis strikes," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
The plan is also vague on which agency will take the lead during an outbreak, said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., a member of the House Health Committee who has been pushing the feds to stockpile more anti-viral drugs.
"Whether it's the Department of Homeland Security or Health and Human Services, we need to make clear who's in charge," Lowey said, pointing to the disastrous lack of coordination in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Though it's unclear whether the dreaded H5N1 strain of bird flu now sweeping across the globe will mutate to easily spread among people, experts say a flu pandemic is just a matter of time. The 1918 Spanish flu killed 20 million to 50 million people worldwide.
The plan also drew criticism from public health experts for recycling boiler-plate health messages _ such as promoting hand-washing and exercising - while failing to iron out crucial details, such as who would get first dibs on treatment if it is in short supply and how border officials specifically plan to keep out sick travelers.
"This is a dangerous situation. There's a real disconnect between the rhetoric of the government's plan and the resources that are actually being made available," said Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
Redlener estimates that up to 200 New Yorkers could die every day for months if a novel strain of flu sweeps through the city.
"Virtually everyone I speak to in state and city government recognizes that we are very ill-prepared for a major pandemic," he said.
___
New York Daily News correspondents Greg Wilson and Michael McAuliff contributed to this report.
___
(c) 2006, New York Daily News.
Visit the Daily News online at http://www.nydailynews.com/
==================================
GOOGLE NEW UPDATES: BIRD FLU
=================================
POSTED: RADIO YOUR WAY
http://www.apfn.net/pugo.htm
04/11/06 Coast to Coast with George Noory: re: Expert in alternative medicine and
founder of OsteoMed II,
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny shared an in-depth look at vaccines and bird flu
#1 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A001I06041123405300550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny1.MP3 (4.25MB)
#2 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A002I06041200083300550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny2.MP3 (4.71MB)
#3 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A003I06041200365100550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny3.MP3 (4.53MB)
#4 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A004I06041201103500550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny4.MP3 (4.37MB)
#5 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A005I06041201363900550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny5.MP3 (4.47MB)
Bird Flu & Vaccines
Expert in alternative medicine and founder of OsteoMed II, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny shared an in-depth look at vaccines and bird flu. She views bird flu as an environmental issue rather than a health care crisis. In Asia, a variety of pollutants such as dioxin, pesticides and raw sewage in the water supply can disrupt the immune systems of migratory birds and chickens and make them more susceptible to the H5N1 virus, she explained.
Tenpenny said that the culling of rural chickens and the destruction of small farms is an agenda of multinational agribusinesses who favor "vertical" industrial farming. Their methods include genetically modifying chickens so that their growth cycle is greatly reduced (if humans grew as fast as GM chickens they'd weigh 350 lbs. by the age of two).
Warning about the upcoming H5N1 flu shot, Tenpenny said the cell lines being used for the vaccine may be grown from dog kidneys, caterpillar eggs and other material that will have a strong possibility for viral contamination. Further, she cautioned that the government may eventually make such vaccinations mandatory, linking them with the ability to receive the new National ID card.
http://www.drtenpenny.com/
White House unveils new emergency plan for flu pandemic
(New York Daily News (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) NEW YORK _ If a deadly new flu outbreak sweeps across the country, New York and other communities shouldn't look to the feds to come to the rescue, the White House said Wednesday.
The sobering message, contained in a government emergency plan unveiled Wednesday, prompted Mayor Bloomberg to note the city was close to completing its own pandemic strategy.
"It is a very complex problem, and there are no easy answers," Bloomberg said, adding that trying to prepare for the outbreak of a novel strain of flu was like trying to hit a "moving target."
But the federal plan _ the second phase of a $7.1 billion initiative announced in November _ quickly drew fire from public health experts and other elected officials for shifting too much of the burden of fighting a deadly epidemic onto local authorities and even private businesses.
"This is an international problem that calls for a federal response _ pawning it off on the state and local government is not a solution," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.
A worst-case scenario estimates 2 million Americans could die during a pandemic.
The 230-page document instructs hospitals to prepare for a surge of seriously ill patients during a pandemic. It also tells essential businesses to find ways to keep running even if 40 percent of its employees are out sick.
Federal authorities would coordinate resources such as vaccines and anti-viral drugs. But the document had a blunt message for those on the front lines: "Local communities will have to address the medical and nonmedical effects of the pandemic with available resources."
"The President's pandemic plan is long on scary scenarios but short on specifics for how we will make sure we can respond adequately when crisis strikes," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
The plan is also vague on which agency will take the lead during an outbreak, said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., a member of the House Health Committee who has been pushing the feds to stockpile more anti-viral drugs.
"Whether it's the Department of Homeland Security or Health and Human Services, we need to make clear who's in charge," Lowey said, pointing to the disastrous lack of coordination in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Though it's unclear whether the dreaded H5N1 strain of bird flu now sweeping across the globe will mutate to easily spread among people, experts say a flu pandemic is just a matter of time. The 1918 Spanish flu killed 20 million to 50 million people worldwide.
The plan also drew criticism from public health experts for recycling boiler-plate health messages _ such as promoting hand-washing and exercising - while failing to iron out crucial details, such as who would get first dibs on treatment if it is in short supply and how border officials specifically plan to keep out sick travelers.
"This is a dangerous situation. There's a real disconnect between the rhetoric of the government's plan and the resources that are actually being made available," said Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
Redlener estimates that up to 200 New Yorkers could die every day for months if a novel strain of flu sweeps through the city.
"Virtually everyone I speak to in state and city government recognizes that we are very ill-prepared for a major pandemic," he said.
___
New York Daily News correspondents Greg Wilson and Michael McAuliff contributed to this report.
___
(c) 2006, New York Daily News.
Visit the Daily News online at http://www.nydailynews.com/
==================================
GOOGLE NEW UPDATES: BIRD FLU
=================================
POSTED: RADIO YOUR WAY
http://www.apfn.net/pugo.htm
04/11/06 Coast to Coast with George Noory: re: Expert in alternative medicine and
founder of OsteoMed II,
Dr. Sherri Tenpenny shared an in-depth look at vaccines and bird flu
#1 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A001I06041123405300550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny1.MP3 (4.25MB)
#2 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A002I06041200083300550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny2.MP3 (4.71MB)
#3 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A003I06041200365100550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny3.MP3 (4.53MB)
#4 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A004I06041201103500550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny4.MP3 (4.37MB)
#5 http://www.apfn.net/audio/A005I06041201363900550-coast-2-coast-tenpenny5.MP3 (4.47MB)
Bird Flu & Vaccines
Expert in alternative medicine and founder of OsteoMed II, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny shared an in-depth look at vaccines and bird flu. She views bird flu as an environmental issue rather than a health care crisis. In Asia, a variety of pollutants such as dioxin, pesticides and raw sewage in the water supply can disrupt the immune systems of migratory birds and chickens and make them more susceptible to the H5N1 virus, she explained.
Tenpenny said that the culling of rural chickens and the destruction of small farms is an agenda of multinational agribusinesses who favor "vertical" industrial farming. Their methods include genetically modifying chickens so that their growth cycle is greatly reduced (if humans grew as fast as GM chickens they'd weigh 350 lbs. by the age of two).
Warning about the upcoming H5N1 flu shot, Tenpenny said the cell lines being used for the vaccine may be grown from dog kidneys, caterpillar eggs and other material that will have a strong possibility for viral contamination. Further, she cautioned that the government may eventually make such vaccinations mandatory, linking them with the ability to receive the new National ID card.
http://www.drtenpenny.com/
