March 22, 2006

 

US governor asks for more money to prepare for bird flu

 

The federal government needs to give states more than the US$350 million proposed by President George Bush to prepare for a pandemic flu, Governor Mike Easley said Tuesday (Mar 21).

 

"From a state perspective, I can tell you that that will not cut it," Easley said. "It is going to take a bigger federal commitment."

 

Easley made his comments during the state's first flu pandemic summit.

 

Leavitt's visit to North Carolina is part of a nationwide tour to talk about a possible flu pandemic. The visits are meant to highlight the need for state and local communities to begin preparing for a possibly serious threat.

 

It was held the same day that the World Health Organization announced that the human death toll from the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has reached 103 after five people in Azerbaijan died from the disease.

 

No birds with the H5N1 strain have been detected in the United States, but Leavitt has said government officials are operating under the assumption that an infected bird will be found in the United States by the fall.

 

Experts fear a pandemic could start if the virus mutates into a form that is passed easily between people.

 

Leavitt said that while US$350 million is going to be divided among the 50 states, there are a lot of other forms of support the federal government will be providing  on the issue.

 

However, he warned that any community effort that relies only on the federal government to pay for its preparations would fall short.

 

"We simply have no way to respond to 5,000 communities at the same moment," Leavitt said.