U.S. Prepares Bird-Flu Plan for Approval
WASHINGTON - In the event of a bird flu outbreak, U.S. money could be produced overseas and Americans checked in drive-through medical exams for signs of infection, according to government plans being finalized.Federal officials say the first case of bird flu could show up in the United States in the coming weeks or months as birds migrate from overseas. President Bush is expected to approve a national response plan in the next week or two laying out how agencies should respond if it were transmitted to humans.
The plan assumes a worst-case scenario that as many as 90 million people in the U.S. would become sick and 2 million would die during a worldwide flu pandemic.
It envisions people may need to avoid human contact and stay home from work, school and other large gathering places, according to officials familiar with draft. Some details of the draft, first in Sunday's Washington Post, were confirmed by officials at the White House who spoke anonymously because the plan has not been finalized.
Source: Assoicated Press via WTOP News