Public health officials and organizations around the world
remain on high alert because of increasing concerns about the
prospect of an influenza pandemic, which many experts believe to
be inevitable. Moreover, recent problems with the availability
and strain-specificity of vaccine for annual flu epidemics in
some countries and the rise of pandemic strains of avian flu in
disparate geographic regions have alarmed experts about the
world's ability to prevent or contain a human pandemic. The
workshop summary, The Threat of Pandemic Influenza: Are We
Ready? addresses these urgent concerns. The report describes
what steps the United States and other countries have taken thus
far to prepare for the next outbreak of "killer flu." It also
looks at gaps in readiness, including hospitals' inability to
absorb a surge of patients and many nations' incapacity to
monitor and detect flu outbreaks. The report points to the need
for international agreements to share flu vaccine and antiviral
stockpiles to ensure that the 88