National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan One Year Summary
Introduction
Although the visibility of avian influenza and pandemic preparedness has waned in the media, the threat of avian influenza and the potential for an influenza pandemic has not. A pandemic occurs when a novel strain of influenza virus emerges that has the ability to infect humans and to cause severe disease, and where efficient and sustained transmission between humans occurs. If humans have little or no immunity to a new virus, a worldwide epidemic, or pandemic, could ensue. Three influenza pandemics occurred during the 20th century. The most lethal of these was the 1918 pandemic, which killed more than 500,000 Americans and 20 million people worldwide. A 1918-like pandemic today would exact a terrible toll. In the United States alone, we could face 90 million persons ill and nearly two million deaths.
Scientists believe that avian (bird) influenza viruses played a role in all three of the pandemics of the 20th century. This is the reason for the concern over the recent spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 (H5N1) virus. Since the beginning of 2006, the number of countries with documented outbreaks of H5N1 in birds has increased from 16 to 60. Although H5N1 avian influenza is rarely transmitted to humans, it produces severe illness when such infections occur. As of June 2007, there have been more than 300 confirmed human cases and almost 200 deaths. Every human case represents an opportunity for the H5N1 virus to adapt itself to the human host or to exchange genetic material with a human influenza virus in a way that may increase its transmissibility among humans. If this occurs, the H5N1 virus could lead to the first pandemic of the 21st century.
In November 2005, President Bush mobilized the Nation to prepare for an influenza pandemic with the announcement of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza (National Strategy). The National Strategy outlines the Federal Government's pandemic preparedness and response goals:(1) stopping, slowing, or otherwise limiting the spread of a pandemic to the United States; (2) limiting the domestic spread of a pandemic and mitigating disease, suffering, and death; and (3) sustaining infrastructure and mitigating impact to the economy and the functioning of society.
One year ago, in May 2006, the U.S. Government issued theNational Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan (National Plan). The National Plan provides a roadmap to achieve the pandemic preparedness and response goals laid out in the National Strategy. To accomplish these goals, the National Plan contains more than 300 specific actions for Federal departments and agencies. Every one of the Federal actions included in the National Plan includes a measure of performance and a timeline for implementation of that action. The U.S. Government committed to this level of transparency and accountability in order to demonstrate to the rest of the world, our international partners, State and local governments, businesses, and the general public, just how seriously we take this threat.
One year after the release of the National Plan, we have an opportunity to review the tremendous progress that has been made, redirect our efforts as necessary, and focus on the highest priority gaps in our capabilities that remain. Approximately two-thirds of the 324 actions in the National Plan were targeted for completion within one year of the National Plan's release. Of these "one year" actions, nearly 90 percent have been completed. While the completion of these actions attests to the level of effort dedicated to pandemic preparedness, it is important to examine how much progress we have made in addressing the three goals of our National Strategy.
It is everyone's responsibility to remain vigilant. Though we cannot be certain that highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 will spark a pandemic, we can be sure that at some point in the future a pandemic will occur. We cannot become complacent and must continue to take the threat of a pandemic very seriously. The ongoing efforts to plan and prepare for a pandemic will serve us well in the future, irrespective of the manner in which the current H5N1 outbreak unfolds.
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