SUMMARY: A blog by former U.S. Senator Bob Graham raises
concerns about the country’s lack of preparedness in producing
vaccines. Graham, chairman of the Commission on the Prevention
of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism,
states: “Whether the threat is from naturally occurring disease
or bioterrorism, the United States needs to be able to produce
vaccines and other medicines faster and less expensively. We had
six months of advance warning for the H1N1 pandemic. A
bioterrorism attack will have no advance warning.’’ STORY LINK:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-bob-graham/why-
werent-h1n1-vacccines_b_339986.html ANALYSIS: The combined
stories offer a broad overview of the state of medical science,
national and international preparedness, and Nature’s ability to
adapt. The emergence and rapid spread of H1N1 is an example of a
regularly occurring phenomenon. In its 2007 annual report, the
World Health Organization (WHO) reported new diseases have
emerged at a rate of one per year since the 19