May 18, 5:38 PM (ET)
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - States so far have a spotty record in preparing for bird flu before it hits the United States, the Homeland Security Department's top doctor said Thursday. He said it is a matter of "not if, but when" the deadly virus is carried into the country.
But Dr. Jeffrey Runge said bird flu will not be a critical threat until the virus is consistently spread between people, which so far has happened only in a few isolated cases overseas.
Runge, Homeland Security's chief medical officer, said state and local governments carry most of burden of being prepared - including readying emergency medical workers, providing hospital beds and setting up treatment centers outside of immediate disaster areas.
In an interview with the Associated Press, he did not identify which states have been slow to prepare for bird flu, but noted that those that have been hit with natural disasters like hurricanes or terror attacks are farther along in their planning.
"I think it's variable," Runge said.
"Frankly, some states still have the idea that if it makes people sick, it's simply a health event," he said. "And others are much more forward reaching, and understand that they have to prepare for things like civil unrest, or interruption of the supply chain, or the failure of critical infrastructure to keep going, to keep the nation going in the event of some catastrophic event. And those are the ones that we think are the best prepared."
ArticleMany States Said Not Ready for Bird Flu
Linear Mode
