Scientist says flu drug stockpiles inadequate - Yahoo! News
Scientist says flu drug stockpiles inadequate - Yahoo! News: "The H5N1 avian influenza virus has killed millions of birds across Asia and infected 116 people, killing more than 60 of them. Scientists are concerned the virus, currently known to pass to humans from birds, could mutate and be passed among humans.
A draft of the Bush administration's final plan for dealing with a likely pandemic flu outbreak shows the United States is unprepared for the potential disaster, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Nearly 2 million people in the United States could die, and a large outbreak that began in Asia would likely reach the United States within 'a few months or even weeks,' the Times cited the report as saying.
More than 25 countries have stockpiles of anti-flu drugs, Hayden said, and 10 either have enough or have ordered enough to treat 20 percent to 40 percent of their populations.
At current capacity, it would take about 10 years and cost about 14 billion euros to produce enough oseltamivir to treat 20 percent of the world's population, the flu specialist at the University of Virginia added."
A draft of the Bush administration's final plan for dealing with a likely pandemic flu outbreak shows the United States is unprepared for the potential disaster, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Nearly 2 million people in the United States could die, and a large outbreak that began in Asia would likely reach the United States within 'a few months or even weeks,' the Times cited the report as saying.
More than 25 countries have stockpiles of anti-flu drugs, Hayden said, and 10 either have enough or have ordered enough to treat 20 percent to 40 percent of their populations.
At current capacity, it would take about 10 years and cost about 14 billion euros to produce enough oseltamivir to treat 20 percent of the world's population, the flu specialist at the University of Virginia added."
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