/24-7PressRelease/ - NEW YORK, NY, January 01, 2006 - Richard Nolan, senior adviser to the director of the Strategic National Stockpile at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta commented that "theoretically, it ought to work". Currently, he is working on the plan, which would establish a distribution center for influenza prevention supplies.
Experts realize that Asian region is the most appropriate location for mutation to take place that is why, Nolan said that Thailand would be most likely place as distribution center where supplies such as Tamiflu - the influenza medication thought most likely to be effective against avian flu - could be quickly shipped around the region".
For avian flu to become a pandemic threat, it would have to mutate into a virus that can be transmitted from person to person. So far, humans can contract the disease only from birds.
Health Specialists are already working in Asian countries to analyzing the matters of avian flu, influenza. Nolan said those teams require quick access to supplies, mostly if they determine an avian flu that spreads among people.
"People get really up close and personal with their chickens," Nolan said.
If avian flu were determined, it could take as long as nine months to develop and manufacture a vaccine. It would be more effective to corral the virus and prevent it from spreading.
He questioned and answered as he thinks, he asked "Can you isolate it enough, given the fact that it's likely to occur in a rural village?" "Yes" as he thinks.
Nolan said that the problem right now is every country in the world worried about pandemic flu is starting to ask the single manufacturer of Tamiflu for massive quantities of it but it would require an almost immediate response, including distribution of Tamiflu in the infected population.
The "recipe" for Tamiflu is patented, and Roche, the pharmaceutical company with the rights to produce it, cannot keep up with demand.
The CDC hopes to stockpile Tamiflu regimens for the Asian distribution center, which would be operated by the World Health Organization, Nolan said.
"It's likely to not be an ideal amount," he said. "It's going to be whatever we can get our hands on."
"We are discouraging people from stockpiling," said Dr. Doug Moore, chief of public health for the health department. "We want to make sure we have it for people who do need it."
Tamiflu is available by prescription from medical providers for people are who sick with influenza. It should not be put away on a shelf in case of a future illness, Moore said.
The health department has asked area providers not to dispense the drug preventively, and especially not for the remote possibility of avian flu.
"We don't know if it's going to be effective" against avian flu or even if avian flu will become a human threat, Moore said.
Meanwhile, Moore said, it is up to the federal government to stockpile Tamiflu and other supplies for the possibility of an outbreak on American soil.
"It's at the nation level. It's not done at the local level," he said.
The CDC would probably be charged with distributing supplies around the country during an outbreak, and local agencies, such as the health department, would have little control.
Moore said supplies would be targeted to areas with confirmed disease cases. If avian flu popped up in many places at once, it would be up to federal officials to prioritize dispensation.
This news is prepared by editor of http://www.neglog.com on the basis of current news updates and articles.
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