An avian Influenza pandemic, is seen as a potential biological tsunami. It could wipe out tens of millions of people across the globe within weeks.
With the potential of killing between 40,000 to 100,000 of Australians, according to different models, it may be obvious that one of the effects is that the flu-like virus would severely impact on the economy.
Last week, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), the Federal Government's economic adviser, revealed that the Australian economy would shrink by 6.8 per cent in the case of an outbreak.
Since the 2002 SARS outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and eminent epidemiologists have warned of a serious risk of an Influenza pandemic, on a similar scale to the 1918 "Spanish Flu", which was virulent and no one had immunity to it, and claimed 40 million lives.
WHO's Professor Richard Laing last month said, "It's absolutely inevitable that we will, sooner or later, have an influenza epidemic."
Although the threat is severe and the consequences dire, a World Bank report has warned in early June that governments are not responding fast enough.
The report advises an increase in help to developing countries, and notes that Australia has pledged and committed $A75 million, in January this year, but disbursed only $A15.95 million, Reuters reported.
To counter this, last week Federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, visited Jakarta and signed a new $10 million avian influenza assistance agreement with the Indonesian Government. This will go towards the overall cost $1.2 billion to control bird flu in Indonesia.
Mr Abbott says Australia is a world leader in its readiness to deal with a possible influenza pandemic.
"The Commonwealth Government has provided funding of $599 million since 2003 to protect Australians from potential outbreaks of human pandemic influenza and from the entry of bird flu into the country," he said.
However, a Newspoll survey conducted in late June revealed that 35 per cent of Australian's were very or extremely concerned about a serious health epidemic.
In Australia, about 50 million surgical masks and 40 million syringes have been stockpiled, along with mass quantities of antiviral drugs including Tamiflu, widely regarded as the best drug for combating the disease.
Among the measures taken by the Federal Government are temporary quarantine shelters with 500 beds in six locations, to deal the arrival of a aircraft with passengers who are possibly symptomatic on the plane.
Meeting late last week, Avian flu experts in Paris have warned that we are facing a "catastrophic" situation, after the relatively poor results after tackling the H5N1 'bird flu' strain, BBC reported.
"We have had reverse genetics H5N1 viruses available to work with for three years and after three years this is all we can say: 'We could produce enough vaccine worldwide, for 100 million people'. Is that good enough? I don't think so," Dr Fedson the former professor of medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, US, said.
Exercise Cumpston 06, to be held October 16 – 19 will be Australia's largest ever health simulation exercise and one of the largest pandemic influenza exercises held in the world, it will test the country's preparedness for responding to pandemic influenza
With AAP
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