According to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
AND (CDC), in a worst case scenario, as many as 90 million people in
the U.S., including 30 percent of its workforce, could become sick
from a mutated avian influenza (bird flu) H5N1 strain. Proactive
steps are therefore necessary to protect U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) personnel and maintain the Department’s mission-essential
functions.
The Government issued mandates to Federal agencies to conduct
pandemic influenza planning. On November 1, 2005, the President
announced the “National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza,”
requiring Federal agencies that perform mission-critical functions,
including DOE, to develop agency pandemic influenza plans. In
the event of a pandemic, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services will lead the public health and medical response
and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will lead
nonmedical domestic support and response actions.
