Bird Flu: Found in Canada

H/T to Dan Riehl at Riehl World View - USAToday reports via AP that Canada may have its first cases of bird flu as found in wild geese, but it is a possibility it's not the same strain, or might be a mutated strain of the H5N1 birds experienced overseas.

There must be something to this sense of urgency officials in most countries are portraying; Bush is speaking tomorrow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and will be unveiling the government's strategy for dealing with a pandemic:

WASHINGTON - Vaccine improvement is expected to take center stage in the Bush administration's preparations for a worldwide flu outbreak, with a potential travel ban and restrictions on global commerce part of the contingency planning.

President Bush on Tuesday will announce his strategy on how to prepare for the next flu pandemic - preparations expected to cost at least $6.5 billion - whether it is caused by the worrisome Asian bird flu or some other super-strain of influenza.

A key element: States and cities will get their first specific instructions from federal health officials on such things as who should get limited doses of vaccines and the antiviral medications Tamiflu or Relenza

First on the list, of course, to get the vaccine will be health care professionals and emergency workers. It's serious enough of a concern that $8 billion in emergency funding championed by Democrats passed on Thursday.

There are detractors to the level of hype being given the planning and funding of a pandemic possibility, but we submit we'd rather ante up for this than some of the other efforts our government funds. Even if it doesn't pan out that this particular strain crosses to humans this time, it's far better to plan for the health of the Nation's people than to be caught flat-footed as they did in 1918.

If you don't know the history about the 1918 flu pandemic, get educated . Viruses are nothing to be screwing around with.

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Sources: ABC News: Bush to Announce Strategy to Battle Flu; Washington Post: Gates Foundation Pledges More Toward Malaria Research
George Bush is ready to spend $7.5 billion dollars to protect the US from a disease that currently poses no danger and ...