Report shows U.S. only half ready for flu pandemic

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. states have made progress in stockpiling drugs and preparing to vaccinate people in case of a flu pandemic but are far behind in plans for the ensuing months of disruption, the government said on Thursday.

The report from the U.S. Health and Human Services department showed most states responsible for maintaining food supply in an emergency were ready, but transportation plans had a long way to go. Experts said the economic crisis would only make things worse.

"It's mixed. I see the glass half full in the sense that the important issues are being addressed seriously by serious people," William Raub, who has been helping organize pandemic preparedness for HHS, told Reuters.

Most health experts agree that a pandemic of something, probably influenza, is inevitable and the U.S. government has been pushing states to develop preparedness plans.

No one can say when or what disease will strike, but the No. 1 suspect now is H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, which has infected 394 people and killed 248 of them since 2003.

The virus does not infect people easily now but continues to pop up in flocks of birds in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa and could mutate into a form that people pass easily to one another.

"The pandemic threat is real and continuing, irrespective of how much the perception of the threat may wax or wane over time. Therefore, if we are to counter the next pandemic effectively, we must prepare now," said Raub.

TRYING TO SURVIVE