[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S3610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             H2N2 FLU VIRUS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there is one issue I talked about initially 
Monday and want to bring forth once again.
  Nothing is more important than the safety of the American people, and 
we have a lot of work to do in a particular area. Yesterday we learned 
that samples of the deadly H2N2 flu virus were accidentally shipped to 
5,000 laboratories all over the world. Thankfully, nearly all of the 
samples have been destroyed.
  The H2N2 virus is lethal. It is fatal. Back in 1957, it killed over 
70,000 people just here in the United States and as many as 1 million 
to 4 million people around the world.
  This latest news underscores, once again, just how vulnerable we are 
as an American people, as a world people, because viruses know no 
borders, they know no geography. There are no barriers.
  On Monday, 3 days ago, I spoke of the need to bolster State 
preparedness and Federal preparedness in this arena. I mentioned that 
exotic and deadly viruses, such as the Marburg virus that at this very 
moment is racking all of northern Angola--the Marburg virus being a 
virus which is an Ebola-like virus, a hemorrhagic-fever-type virus--
those viruses that are racking that country which we do not understand, 
for which we have no cure, for which we have no vaccine, are literally 
just a plane ride away from this room or from whoever is listening to 
me now through the media around the country. It is just a plane ride 
away.
  Avian flu has already killed 50 people. Some say, 50 people, that is 
not thousands of people. But it is 50 people from a virus that not too 
long ago we did not know anything about, that began to be harbored in 
birds, and now is being harbored in other animals and now has killed 
and jumped to kill 50 people; with just a tiny drift and ultimately a 
shift in a mutation, it becomes transmissible.
  Once again, we have no vaccine for avian flu. It is something for 
which we have no cure. We only have to look back to 1917, another type 
of avian flu, but very similar, which killed a half a million 
Americans, 50 million people around the world.
  Meanwhile, as all this goes on, there are only five major vaccine 
manufacturers worldwide that have production facilities in the United 
States. That is for all vaccines. Only two of those are actually United 
States companies. Our manufacturing base for vaccines is woefully 
inadequate for any of the threats I have just mentioned.
  Over the past 2 decades, the number of manufacturers who make 
vaccines for children has dwindled from 12 down to now just 4, and only 
2 of the 4 manufacturers that make lifesaving vaccines for children are 
here in the United States.
  I spoke, as I mentioned, on this topic on Monday. I spoke on Monday 
because it was the 50th anniversary of the polio vaccine. Yesterday's 
news about the H2N2 virus is just one more reason why we need to take 
action. It is imperative we strengthen our domestic vaccine supply, we 
offer appropriate legal protections, and we encourage and incentivize 
collaboration between public and private sectors. We need to advance 
research and development. We need to put all these initiatives together 
to protect us from a deadly viral outbreak that scientific experts warn 
could come to our shores any day.
  America has been the engine of countless lifesaving discoveries and 
global health efforts. Once again, we are called upon to lead for the 
safety of our fellow citizens and, indeed, citizens around the world.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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