The World Health Organization said it is drafting a plan that will try to prevent the spread of an avian flu epidemic by targeting an outbreak at its source rather than waiting for a pandemic to develop. Under the proposal being drafted by a small group of researchers at the international agency, WHO would use a stockpile of 3 million courses of the antiviral Tamiflu to hit any area impacted by the H5N1 virus as soon as signs of human-to-human transmission are evident. The plan reflects a growing consensus among experts that a decentralized approach to managing an epidemic may not work very well.
- see this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)