[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24378]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      AVIAN FLU: PROTECT AMERICANS

  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, the prospect of an avian flu pandemic has 
mobilized government officials and health care professionals across the 
United States. Every year there is a new outbreak of flu strains, with 
potentially serious consequences for the elderly, children and people 
with compromised immune systems. In his address this morning, President 
Bush accurately differentiated between traditional flu viruses and the 
avian flu. This specific flu strain, H5N1, is particularly virulent, 
with a 50 percent mortality rate once contracted. To date, 110 people 
have been infected, and 60 deaths have been attributed to this flu. The 
virus has been tracked from Mongolia and Siberia, through the Ukraine 
and Croatia to Turkey. Avian flu has spread to 16 countries. There is 
not yet an avian pandemic in the United States, but as we live in an 
ever-shrinking world with all our travel, we must be prepared for its 
unwelcome arrival.
  In this week's edition of Newsweek, Dr. Margaret Chan, head of 
preparedness for the World Health Organization, states, ``Key factors 
to combating a global pandemic are early detection, quarantines, 
availability of vaccines and antiviral drugs, and the state of hospital 
readiness to treat those infected.''
  I would like to focus on one of these key factors in particular, the 
availability of this medication. On May 4 of this year in the Oversight 
and Investigation Subcommittee where I serve, hearings were held on the 
current state of preparedness for the upcoming flu season. In those 
hearings, health officials testified that manufacturing of flu vaccines 
is an annual process beginning in February with the World Health 
Organization and the Centers for Disease Control publishing their 
predictions of flu strains that are most likely to spread that winter. 
Manufacturing vaccines is a lengthy and complex process that leaves 
little margin for error. The possibility of contamination of these 
biologically grown vaccines is great, and, as we saw with the vaccine 
producer Chiron in 2003, could potentially render entire productions 
worthless. Fear of liability compounds the short supply of vaccines. In 
the 1960s, the U.S. had more than 26 vaccine producers in this country. 
Today only five companies remain. Currently, we rely upon one vaccine 
producer to make the annual flu cocktails as well as eight other common 
childhood vaccinations such as measles, mumps, diphtheria and 
meningitis. Lawsuits make production unprofitable and risky, pushing 
producers away from vaccines and towards the more lucrative industry of 
antiviral medications. This raises concern among health experts about 
resurgence of formerly eradicated diseases if vaccine shortages 
continue. Congress should consider offering companies incentives to 
enter the vaccine industry and, of course, limiting the liability 
burden. These were included in President Bush's avian flu strategy this 
morning. The President has asked Congress to remove the litigation 
burden on vaccine manufacturers and fund development of new cell 
culture techniques. These techniques reduce the time lag between 
identification of a new pandemic threat and development of a vaccine. 
Avian flu is the current threat to our Nation's health, but we can be 
assured it will not be the last. Therefore, increasing our vaccine 
capacity is necessary to our national security.
  There are two antiviral medications available that are believed to 
treat avian flu, Tamiflu and Relenex. Tamiflu is the more widely 
recommended medication, and our government is currently building 
stockpiles of this medication in anticipation of possible outbreaks in 
this country. However, there is a danger of many individuals building 
personal Tamiflu stockpiles. The Washington Post reported that 1.7 
million prescriptions for Tamiflu were filled in the United States in 
just the first 8 months of 2005, which is three times more than last 
year. Personal stockpiles pose a twofold risk. The first is that 
private consumers reduce the already limited supply of the drug, 
causing the government to have to compete to fulfill its supply goals, 
and cause a shortage of supply for public health care providers. The 
second threat is from individuals incorrectly self-medicating that can 
lead to development of a resistant viral strain, limiting the 
medication's effectiveness.
  The 2006 agriculture appropriations conference report includes the 
appropriation of $28 million to control and manage avian flu. We have 
the ability and obligation to do more. President Bush this morning 
announced his three-part avian flu strategy to the public, requesting 
congressional support. This plan incorporates the recommendations of 
the World Health Organization by monitoring and rapid response to 
outbreaks, increasing availability of vaccines and antiviral 
medication, and creating effective pandemic emergency plans in 
cooperation with State and local authorities. I believe these 
recommendations are a good start and look forward to reviewing them in 
further detail.
  We must not panic. We must be prepared.

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