In the fall of 2005, avian influenza warnings began to appear in the pages of media giants as fears of a global pandemic were ramped up.  A flu virus usually confined to birds had infected and killed individuals in Asia.  When an article appeared in the Council on Foreign Relations publication, it was echoed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and LA Times.  The descriptions of the magnitude of a unchecked virus led to a response by the White House and legislation and funding from Congress followed to preempt if possible a global crisis and the potential of unimaginable death.

Three years later, no pandemic.  As Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH recently stated in his monthly briefing, "The concept of pandemic planning has been slipping into abstraction, a place where eyes glaze over and attention drifts." So should we shelf the Tamiflu, give our emergency food supplies to the local food bank, and return the duct tape?"

Au contraire.  Dr. Osterholm continues to sound the pandemic warning bell as he continues to make the case for the devastation that would occur worldwide when as he puts it today's business model of a just-in-time economy collide with one of humankind's most formidable enemies: the influenza virus.

The focus on this potential disaster has provided us all with a wake-up call about the need to prepare for any disaster whether it be hurricane, tornado, tsunami, flood, fire, power outage, terrorism, etc. If you take a moment to trace the impact of natural disasters during the past few months, you can see clearly the impact of those who were prepared and those who were not.

As Dwight D. Eisenhower put it: "Neither a wise nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him."

 

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