'We Are in Real Trouble' - Bird flu pandemic risk: "I understand that the U.S. has ordered about 6 million doses. But the U.S. government has estimated it needs at least 20 million doses.

"At the current rate of production, by the end of 2006, there would be enough Tamiflu for 1.5 percent of the world’s population. If the company revved up production to the maximum, it would hit two percent. So it would take 10 years at maximum production to make enough for one out of five people."

"It’s not as if those at the highest levels of government are unaware of the threat. So why haven’t we done more to prepare?
My response to that depends on my mood in a given moment. There are times when asking that question will get steam pouring out of my ears and I’ll be a raving lunatic. And at times I become more cynical… When [former President Bill] Clinton ordered a multi-agency study on emerging threats, pandemic flu was number one. It is not new that the scientific community has been warning about it. What is new is that we are well past a warning. We have got [figurative] ambulances rolling through the streets with sirens wailing saying: Get out of the way, there’s trouble coming!"

'We Are in Real Trouble' - Bird flu pandemic risk: "I understand that the U.S. has ordered about 6 million doses. But the U.S. government has estimated it needs at least 20 million doses.

"At the current rate of production, by the end of 2006, there would be enough Tamiflu for 1.5 percent of the world’s population. If the company revved up production to the maximum, it would hit two percent. So it would take 10 years at maximum production to make enough for one out of five people."

"It’s not as if those at the highest levels of government are unaware of the threat. So why haven’t we done more to prepare?
My response to that depends on my mood in a given moment. There are times when asking that question will get steam pouring out of my ears and I’ll be a raving lunatic. And at times I become more cynical… When [former President Bill] Clinton ordered a multi-agency study on emerging threats, pandemic flu was number one. It is not new that the scientific community has been warning about it. What is new is that we are well past a warning. We have got [figurative] ambulances rolling through the streets with sirens wailing saying: Get out of the way, there’s trouble coming!"