# 711
This is one of a series of pandemic exercises the CDC is holding this year.
US health agency stages bird flu war game
Fri 27 Apr 2007 22:33:31 BST
By Matthew Bigg
ATLANTA, April 27 (Reuters) - A leading U.S. health agency staged a war game this week to test its response to one of the worst health emergencies it could imagine -- an outbreak of avian flu on American soil.
The exercise, which ended on Friday, was designed to simulate how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would marshal its resources, coordinate with other branches of government and, crucially, reassure the public while preparing it for a possible pandemic.
"If we were at the beginning of a pandemic this is exactly what it would look like," said CDC Director Julie Gerberding at a news conference early in the 48-hour drill, which involved hundreds of officials.
If things turn out wrong it could lead to a "catastrophe beyond our planning," she said.
In the script, a student infected with a new strain of H5N1 virus returns from Indonesia where a bird flu outbreak is under way. He dies but not before infecting others including members of a swimming team.
On Day One, 12 people contract the disease in four states and 25 percent die, a rate that shows the virus to be particularly lethal.
By Day Two, there are 25 cases and CDC is forced to consider whether to recommend ordering schools to close, banning flights from Indonesia or even shutting U.S. borders.
They decide against these measures but send experts to Indonesia, release a quarter of the U.S. stockpile of flu vaccines and force all international flights to land at just 10 airports to screen passengers and limit the disease's spread.
Health experts say that in real life it's just a matter of time before a global flu pandemic strikes. The 1918 pandemic killed up to 100 million people -- 650,000 in the United States -- and there have been two subsequent less-severe pandemics.
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