Pandemic preparedness

An influenza pandemic occurs when a highly contagious strain of the influenza virus emerges, affecting millions of people around the world. Preparing for an influenza pandemic requires support and collaboration from multiple partners at the state, local, and federal level. Potential partners include the medical community, law enforcement, emergency management, and public health agencies.

People, especially those responsible for emergency response and providing medical care, must be equipped with special medication and respiratory protection for avoiding any sort of infection. Once the new virus is identified it could take months until an appropriate vaccination is developed and manufactured. With this in mind, the WHO has advised all countries to stock up on the only known medicine to be effective against Influenza that is Tamiflu(active ingredient: Oseltamivir) developed by the Swiss Pharmaceutical company Roche.