Special Report

Pandemic Flu Awareness

Many articles have been written about the prospect of a global pandemic following the successful human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 avian influenza virus. Each typically lists a few sources for more information, but the articles are not updated as new sources appear. Governments and international organizations have made plans and published web sites full of information, but they focus in their own information or send readers to the same few sources. The Internet search sites find too many sources to be useful. This page, then, is an attempt to gather the best sources of information from a variety of perspectives, crossing lines of both geography and discipline.

International Organizations

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health. It provides extensive resources and current information on the influenza section of its web site. WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Record disseminates epidemiological information on cases and outbreaks of diseases under the International Health Regulations and on other communicable diseases of public health importance.

World Organization for Animal Health

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) features alerts on the spread of diseases in animals. The web site includes a regularly updated report on the spread of avian influenza among animals.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

FAO leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its site includes an avian influenza page with news and maps of outbreaks. See the recommendations page for additional strategy documents, such as "A Global Strategy for the Progressive Control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)" PDF download).

United Nations Development Group

The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) was created to improve the effectiveness of UN development at the country level. Its web site contains documents related to influenza, such as national strategic plans for specific countries. Use the keyword search function to find relevant materials.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

The IFRC offers general information on avian influenza and a guide to public health in emergencies.

The World Bank

The World Bank provides an avian and human influenza page with reports on the economic impact of influenza outbreaks and additional information on focused regions affected by influenza.

Regional/National Information

Americas

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the principal agency in the United States government for protecting the health and safety of all Americans and for providing essential human services. CDC maintains an extensive repository of information and advice related to influenza, with sections on seasonal flu, avian flu, and pandemic flu.

CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) develops recommendations for the routine administration of vaccines. See the July 2005 recommendation for Prevention and Control of Influenza and additional reports related to influenza, as well as ACIP statements for updated information.

Department of Health and Human Services (US)

The HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan serves as a blueprint for all HHS pandemic influenza preparedness planning and response activities. It has three parts: the Strategic Plan outlines federal plans and preparation for public health and medical support in the event of a pandemic. Part 2, Public Health Guidance for State and Local Partners, provides detailed guidance to state and local health departments. Part 3 will consist of HHS Agencies' Operational Plans.

Health Canada

Canadian government source of information and news about bird flu.

National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza (US)

Strategic framework for U.S. government planning, from the office of the President. The website provides an overview. The complete document is available in a 477KB PDF file.

PandemicFlu.gov (US)

Official U.S. government Web site for information on pandemic flu and avian influenza. This site offers extensive background and planning resources, including planning checklists for individuals, organizations, and businesses. The site includes links to all available state pandemic plans in the United States.

Europe

Europa—Public Health

EUROPA is the portal site of the European Union. The public health section provides background information and current news on the influenza page. The Animal Health and Welfare section presents additional information from an animal health perspective.

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is a new EU agency that has been created to help strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases, such as influenza, SARS and HIV/AIDS. Its avian influenza page focuses on background information, while the influenza page provides situational updates. Eurosurveillance is a series of regular publications related to disease surveillance and control.

European Influenza Surveillance Scheme

EISS collects and exchanges timely information on influenza activity, contributing to the annual determination of the influenza vaccine content, providing relevant information about influenza to health professionals and the general public and contributing to European influenza pandemic preparedness activities. All 25 European Union Member States, Norway, Romania and Switzerland participate in EISS. EISS publishes a weekly bulletin of epidemiological and virological data for Europe.

Health Protection Agency (UK)

Official public health source for the United Kingdom. The pandemic flu section of the web site focuses on planning, while the avian flu sections provides updates on the current situation. The Department of Health provides a somewhat more general information page.

Asia/Pacific

ASEAN Disease Surveillance Net

A web-based surveillance network designed to facilitate regional cooperation and improve infectious disease outbreak detection and response capabilities. Sponsored by Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Indonesian Ministry of Health. A bird flu page provides regular updates.

China in battle against bird flu

Special section from Xinhua News Agency (China).

Department of Health and Ageing (Australia)

Australian government source of information and news about avian influenza.

East & Southeast Asia: Avian Flu Pandemic Threat

Annotated set of links from Professor Robert Y. Eng at the University of Redlands.

Singapore Government Flu Website

Official government information from Singapore. The Ministry of Health also has a flu site.

Africa

South Africa Flu Web

From the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

Scientific/Medical Resources

American Medical Association

Influenza information on the emerging infections page. AMA's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provides online access to its archives, including a convenient link to articles related to viral infections. Access to the archive is free for articles more than 6 months old.

Containing pandemic influenza with antiviral agents

Longini, Halloran, Nizam and Yang, American Journal of Epidemiology, 2004.

Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

Another connection to state pandemic influenza plans within the United States. The CSTE site contains contact information for epidemiologists in the U.S.

Detection of epidemics in their early stage through infectious disease surveillance

Hashimotoa, Murakamib, Taniguchic and Nagai, International Journal of Epidemiology, 2000.

Epidemiology

Use the site's search feature to find articles related to influenza.

The Lancet

The British medical journal provides a related to avian influenza.

Nature

In Focus: Bird Flu and Web Focus: Avian Flu contain many articles (some free, some subscribers only). The magazine ran a special issue on influenza in May 2005.

The New England Journal of Medicine

Use the site's search feature to find articles related to influenza. Access to the archive is free for articles more than 6 months old. NEJM publishes RSS feeds for current and recent issues.

"Preparing for the next pandemic"

Michael T. Osterholm, The New England Journal of Medicine, 2005. Osterholm also contributed a different article with the same title to Foreign Affairs: "Preparing for the Next Pandemic," July/August 2005.

Business advisories

Avian influenza impact

T2Impact Ltd is a global travel ebusiness consulting group specializing in providing services to companies interested in the travel marketplace. Managing Partner Timothy O'Neil-Dunne is a permanent industry advisor to the World Economic Forum. For a free copy of the T2Inteldox briefing on Avian Influenza please email security@t2impact.com.

Business Forums International

Conference and training organizer focusing on HR, risk and security. 2006 conferences include business and IT summits on avian flu.

Businesses Believe Pandemic Flu a Threat, But Few Prepared

"U.S. companies view an influenza pandemic as a real threat to the nation, but two-thirds believe they have inadequately planned to protect themselves in the event of an outbreak." Results of a survey by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and the ERISA Industry Committee. PDF Download (315KB)

Global macroeconomic consequences of pandemic influenza

A report released by the Lowy Institute for International Policy exploring the implications of a pandemic influenza outbreak on the global economy. The paper examines a range of scenarios (mild, moderate, severe and ultra) that span the historical experience of influenza pandemics of the twentieth century. PDF Download (764KB)

Pandemic: Can the Life Insurance Industry Survive the Avian Flu?

An analysis of the impact of pandemic influenza on the life insurance industry, from the Insurance Information Institute (III). III provides a general insurance industry view on an avian influenza page.