Avian Flu

AVIAN FLU

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there is another issue which is timely, one that is growing in interest and intensity across America; that is, the challenge of avian flu. Public health officials have been worrying about this for the last several years. But an avian flu epidemic is not yesterday's news. Sadly, it may be tomorrow's news. It is our duty to prepare for it today.

Poultry have been susceptible to various strains of avian flu for a long time. Public health officials started to get worried when avian flu was noted in Indonesia, Romania, and other countries as well. This form of flu may be transferrable to humans. That is what is being monitored very carefully.

Unfortunately, humans do not have a natural resistance to this form of the flu. Remember that in previous flu epidemics they usually warned that the people who needed flu shots would be children, the elderly, and people in a compromised health situation. They are the most vulnerable for most ordinary flu strains.

In this particular case, everyone is vulnerable. None of us have a built-in resistance. It is unlike a typical flu that makes you feel bad for a few days and then you are back up and going strong. This, sadly, attacks fast and hard and kills. Over half of the people who have been diagnosed with avian flu around the world perished because of that exposure.

Last week we learned the virus is not just in Asia, but it has been found in Turkey and Romania. Romanian officials reacted quickly and believe they have done what needs to be done to eradicate the spread of flu in their area.

But Romania's Danube Delta is one of Europe's largest bird reserves. Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds are expected to arrive in the coming days. It is possible, maybe likely, that some of these birds will be carriers of avian flu.

If this H5N1 flu mutates into a form that transmits easily from person to person, we have been told to expect the worldwide pandemic that could kill tens of millions of people.

Dr. Andrew Pavia of the Infectious Disease Society of America said:

We may sound like we are hyperventilating, but in our heart of hearts we know this is a serious possibility.

That is why we added $3.9 billion to the Defense appropriations bill. If we are going to prepare for a pandemic of avian flu, we cannot wait. We have to start now.

That is why I join my colleague from Illinois, Senator BARACK OBAMA, as well as Senator HARRY REID of Nevada, and many others in introducing the Pandemic Preparedness and Response Act, which lays out the necessary steps to prepare this country for the flu. It would take immediate steps to improve surveillance of this infectious disease so we can track it around the world and begin to contain it immediately.

Second, it expands current research and development at the National Institutes of Health to exhaust the possibilities for developing effective vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Third, it creates a Director of Pandemic Preparedness in the Executive Office of the President. The Director will oversee the response of States and all involved Federal agencies so that we coordinate what we do, that we are organized, and we set out to save as many lives as possible. We do not want the response of Hurricane Katrina to be repeated if we face this avian influenza.

Avian influence is not a new thing, but it is not yesterday's news. An avian flu that develops into a pandemic flu is virtually certain to be tomorrow's news. Let's enact the pandemic preparedness legislation and move immediately, today, before this Senate goes home, to prepare for this possible.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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