 |
         
|
Rounding out the influenza coverage, each newscast offered a public health background feature. ABC's Lisa Stark showed us the Emergency Operations Center of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta where 200 staffers coordinate testing for the virus and a nationwide response: "Scientists have preliminary test results in just four hours. The more challenging task is growing the virus so others can start developing a vaccine. Scientists say they will not finish with that initial work for at least another week." NBC went to the local level, as Janet Shamlian showed us Texas' rural Hunt County. The town of Commerce has "fewer than 10,000 residents, no county health department and just a 25-bed hospital." Its preparedness plan involves firefighters, school officials, police officers--"even the jail, joining forces."
CBS had in-house physician Jon LaPook assess how deadly this H1N1 strain of swine 'flu might be. "To put this in perspective," he offered, the regular 'flu kills 36,000 nationwide each year out of 50m or 60m infections. "It is impossible to know if this virus is deadlier." Public health officials speculate that "this current outbreak may die off naturally but we could see a resurgence in the fall."
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
