BMJ  2007;334:281 (10 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39118.367523.DB

News

US expert warns interdependence of countries makes world more vulnerable to flu pandemic

Bob Roehr

1 Washington, DC

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The next pandemic will be unlike any other before because of the increased interdependence of the world, and "every country will be compromised by what they can do," says a leading US public health expert.

Michael Osterholm, an expert in preparing for pandemic and bioterrorism incidents, was speaking to 350 of the world's flu experts attending an annual conference, Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza 2007, on 1-2 February, at a hotel near the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

"Today we are at the pinnacle of a global ‘just in time' economy. It is based completely upon efficiency, lack of redundancy, and it has virtually no surge capacity," Dr Osterholm said. "It is this collateral damage that will magnify the impact of the pandemic many many times over."

He offered several examples. "Over 80% of all pharmaceutical products used in the US [United States] are made off shore ... many of these critical . . . [Full text of this article]


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