Alex Chadwick talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about the international panic surrounding the spread of the avian flu and how U.S. health officials are preparing to deal with the virus if and when it appears in this country.
ALEX CHADWICK, host: The avian flu virus has claimed another victim.  Authorities in Thailand      say a 48-year-old man became the 67th person known to be killed by the      virus.  And it's no longer confined to Southeast Asia.  Yesterday Russia      announced the flu virus has just been found 123 miles south of Moscow in      birds there. Politicians and pandemic experts across the world are now      worried about handling not only the virus, but the fear and panic that      might follow the outbreak of a pandemic.  Ira Flatow, host of NPR's      "Science Friday" and regular Thursday contributor to DAY TO DAY, joins      us.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Ira, a Spanish official is quoted on a Spanish radio station as saying      that the threat of the pandemic has been overblown, calls it, quote,      "science fiction," implying that we're being driven by fear rather than      rationality. Is fear driving this crisis?</s>IRA FLATOW (Host, "Science Friday"): Well, it is true so far that no      pandemic has broken out.  There are no real cases of flu actually being      spread from people to people, which would signal that it has entered its      most dangerous phase, so in a sense, that official is right.  But waiting      around for that to happen, and most virologists say it is just a matter      of time until it does happen, is very shortsighted.  Remember, there were      50 million deaths from bird flu in 1918, certainly a sobering number.      And I might point out that the Spanish government itself has bought six      to 10 million doses of Tamiflu.</s>IRA FLATOW (Host, "Science Friday"): You know, one of the problems not yet fully addressed is how to deal with      the grim realities of public reaction when a pandemic does break out.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: And I think we all are--have in mind the chaos that we saw      after Hurricane Katrina.</s>IRA FLATOW (Host, "Science Friday"): Yeah, and we're talking about this magnified in a much bigger      way. Katrina exposed the challenges you face from a disaster when you're      not prepared for it, things like how do you mobilize all those      organizations that need to work together, the doctors, the police, the      hospitals.  How would the medical infrastructure hold up to the      onslaught?  You know, they have all never been fully tested to deal with      a pandemic that is projected to kill up to two million to three million      Americans alone.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: President Bush has talked about the possibility of calling up      the military to handle any quarantine.  That would be one of the first      actions, quarantine, yes?</s>IRA FLATOW (Host, "Science Friday"): Yes, and in addition, you would expect that once the pandemic      starts, governments around the world are going to be getting very      protective and start closing off their borders; no people, no commerce      may be permitted to cross the borders, perhaps for weeks or months at a      time.  And look what the mad cow disease, for example, did to the beef      industry.  What would it do to the poultry industry once this pandemic      starts, not to mention just the food?  How do you handle the people being      quarantined?  People are going to be afraid to leave their homes.      They're not going to go to work.  They're not going to go to school.      There are going to be millions of people like this.  Businesses are going      to close down.  How do you handle the panic?  And of course, in the      worst-case scenario, how do you handle the millions of dead people,      literally? It sounds morbid, but it is.  We saw that awful tragedy in New      Orleans. Imagine that being multiplied by a thousand or two.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Ira, let me go back to something you said earlier.  When you      said that scientists say this is not a matter of if but when the outbreak      of a pandemic, are you speaking of this bird flu, or that eventually some      pandemic will afflict us?</s>IRA FLATOW (Host, "Science Friday"): Some bird flu pandemic will afflict us.  This is not the first      time that this strain has showed up, or a bird flu has shown up.  And if      we look at history back into 1918, we've just discovered a few weeks ago      that that was a bird flu that became virulent in the population of      people.  It was spread by people to people.  So when people talk about      this, when scientists talk about this, they don't talk about this as if      it's going to happen sometime, they just say it's a matter of time.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Ira Flatow, host of "Science Friday," regular Thursday      contributor to DAY TO DAY.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Thank you, Ira.</s>IRA FLATOW (Host, "Science Friday"): You're welcome.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Stay with us on DAY TO DAY from NPR News.