US plan aims to slow bird flu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans should prepare for travel restrictions and school closures if an influenza pandemic hits, but such measures can only temporarily slow the inevitable spread of disease, the government's new flu plan says.

The White House influenza plan released on Wednesday builds on an earlier plan to combat a potential pandemic of H5N1 avian influenza, including preparations to build a stockpile of vaccines and drugs, already under way, and work to develop newer and better vaccines.

"In terms of its scope, the impact of a severe pandemic may be more comparable to that of a war or a widespread economic crisis than a hurricane, earthquake or act of terrorism," the report reads.

The advice ranges from general recommendations to prepare and consult, to detailed information -- for instance, that keeping people three feet (one meter) apart should reduce transmission of the virus and that it can survive on dry surfaces for days.

At the height of a pandemic, people should prepare to hunker down for a while, Frances Fragos Townsend, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, told a news conference.

"Imagine your average summer vacation. It would be limiting nonessential travel that you don't have to take inside the United States," she said.

"I wouldn't be going to the mall if I didn't need to be there."

WORKING ON A VACCINE

The plan does not give specifics on who would get vaccinated first or who would be the first to get scarce antiviral drugs. Administration officials said research on vaccines is moving too fast to make it possible to plan yet.

There is currently no licensed vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza but experimental forms are being tested.

Some Democrats immediately attacked this omission.

"A flu plan that doesn't say how to distribute vaccine is about as useful as a hurricane plan that doesn't say how to rescue people from a flood," Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy said.

The administration of President George W. Bush, whose approval ratings have been sagging, was broadly criticized for responding slowly to Hurricane Katrina last year.

The widely leaked plan has changed considerably from earlier versions, according to sources who saw drafts. It makes clear that closing borders would not be a major part of the U.S. defense.

"Measures at our borders may provide an opportunity to slow the spread of a pandemic to and within the United States, but are unlikely to prevent it," the report reads.

"When you look at border restrictions, there's a period of time very early on in a potential pandemic where they may be effective not in stopping the arrival of the virus but in buying us time and slowing the spread of the pandemic to allow communities, frankly, and individuals to get better prepared, if they haven't already," Townsend said.

"And so we look at things like departure screening, on-plane screening and arrival screening."

"INCREDIBLE PROGRESS"

"We have made incredible progress," said Mike Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota who has been warning of the risks of a pandemic for years.

"The one area that I continue to worry about in a very real way is the lack of resources. Planning for pandemic influenza at the local, state and federal level is not cheap," Osterholm added.

Townsend said local governments and businesses will have to provide much of the funding themselves.

"We believe that this should be a priority for resource allocation and for planning -- for policy implementation and planning," she said.

The plan also lays out specific responsibilities for each government department, but makes clear the Department of Homeland Security will be in overall charge should a pandemic hit.

Democrats attacked this, also.

"Given the Department of Homeland Security's track record, I don't think I'm alone in raising concerns about whether they're prepared to execute and manage a crisis of this magnitude," said Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel.