U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has been warning federal, state and local officials about a probable flu pandemic. Although we may have a vaccine for H5N1, the strain has evolved over time and work has begun on a new vaccine. There is simply no way to predict which strain, if any, might produce a virus capable of mass human to human transmission. Our current vaccine production is slow, using chicken egg-based technology, so new production capabilities using cell base technology must be developed to protect more of the population. We do not know with certainty when the pandemic flu will strike, but we know that it will. To learn more, visit www.pandemicflu.gov.
Fred Schuster
Regional Director
Department of Health and Human Services