American Tamiflu Stocks Sent To Unnamed Asian Country

Mike Leavitt, US Health and Human Services Secretary, says US stocks of Tamiflu are being sent to a safe location in some unnamed Asian country. He said this move is to help the first line of defence in case a flu pandemic breaks out.


Many wonder why this sudden move was announced. Why is the country unnamed? Last week it was announced that 7 members of the same family in Indonesia were infected with the H5N1 bird flu strain - six of them died. The World Health Organization said it was unlikely that such a large cluster of human infections was due to human-to-human transmission. However, nobody seems to be able to locate the source of infection.


If a bunch of people get infected and authorities cannot find any birds as the source, it is not illogical to wonder whether these people may have infected each other. When the WHO says this is unlikely, but cannot offer any other explanation regarding the source of infection, people wonder.


Mike Leavitt said the Tamiflu stocks that are being moved from the USA to Asia would belong to the USA - America would control its deployment. We are told the shipment will arrive at the Asian country later this week. We don't know how many Tamiflu doses were sent.


These Tamiflu stocks will help support international containment efforts in case a flu pandemic breaks out in Asia. Mike Leavitt added that the stocks could be sent back to the USA if needed.


Mike Leavitt said the USA will have enough Tamiflu to treat one quarter of the US population in the event of a flu pandemic. However, his figures are based on some hopeful suppositions. By the end of this year the USA will have 26 million treatment courses - less than 10% of the population. By the end of 2007 it will have 75 million treatment courses - 25% of the population. As long as the pandemic does not hit before the end of 2007, in about one year-and-a-half, his supposition will be accurate. However, if it hits before that, he will be short. The USA has a population of about 290 million.


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