OFFICIALS RACE TO HEAD OFF A FLU PANDEMIC....

: "Michael Stebbins of the Federation of American Scientists and others challenged the suggestion as unworkable. 'It shows a fundamental lack of understanding of public health emergencies,' he says. 'I would be fascinated to see whether the president has a plan to quarantine a city like Washington, D.C., New York or Boston with so many roads in or out. Is he going to send in tanks and armed men?'
Assistant Secretary of Defense William Winkenwirder declined to comment on the president's statement but said the military is often called upon for logistical and medical support in emergencies.
Scientific reports released on the heels of Bush's statement increased the nation's anxiety. In one, Jeffery Taubenberger of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and his team said in the journal Nature that the 1918 pandemic began when the virus leapt from birds to humans, a scenario that mirrors what is happening in Asia today.
In a bid to contain the current epidemic, officials in Southeast Asia have slaughtered 140 million birds. That has not stopped the virus from spreading.
Bush met last week with the chief executives of four vaccine companies to determine how he can help them boost production enough to safeguard the population. The State Department on Friday convened a meeting of health officials from 80 countries to map out plans to arrest the flu's spread.
The administration's plan"...MORE....