December 19, 2007

The Department of Energy’s Pandemic Influenza Planning

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.