Press Releases
Senator Roberts:
“You will see behind me a picture of a crowded emergency hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The Spanish Flu eventually took the lives of more than 600,000 Americans and 50 million people worldwide. However, my colleagues may not be aware that the first human cases of the Spanish Flu in the U.S. were discovered in my home state of Kansas at Camp Funston, Fort Riley.
“On the morning of March 11, 1918, a company cook reported to the camp infirmary complaining of a bad cold. By noon, over 100 sick soldiers suffering the same bad cold also reported to the infirmary. These complaints of “bad colds” turned out to be the first cases of Spanish Flu in America. Within weeks, the Spanish influenza had spread to places far away as Camps Hancock, Lewis, and Sherman and even to several hundred prisoners at San Quentin. By the summer, the flu had reached around the globe, killing tens of thousands of people. This flu was so severe that attack plans during World War I had to be altered or postponed because there were shortages of healthy men to battle.”
Senator Clinton:
“Senator Roberts has outlined the impact that the 1918 flu outbreak had. I would like to tell a different story – a story of a public health success. In March of 1947, the New York faced an outbreak of smallpox. On April 4, the city began a mass vaccination campaign to prevent further cases. Over the next month, more than six million people were inoculated against smallpox – the largest mass vaccination campaign in U.S. history. Through the cooperative efforts of local government employees, public health workers, and an army of volunteers, an outbreak was averted.
“Half a century later, we face a similar public health issue with the potential for a pandemic influenza. But if recent history is any indication, we will be unable to muster a response similar to the one we achieved in 1947. What is particularly worrisome to me, when thinking about our nation’s ability to face the threat posed by pandemic or avian influenza, is the fact that we aren’t even prepared to deal with the seasonal influenza epidemic that we face – that we know with certainty that we will face – every single year.”
Senator Roberts:
“As Senator Clinton has just highlighted, the need to be prepared for both seasonal flu and a potential avian flu pandemic is critical. Some believe the potential avian flu outbreak could be as lethal as the 1918 Spanish Flu. Human cases of avian flu have already been discovered in 10 countries. Three years ago, there were only 3 confirmed cases of avian flu in humans. Today, these numbers have grown to over 224 human cases and 127 deaths.
“As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Agriculture and Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committees, I take this threat of flu pandemic very seriously and view it not only as a public health concern, but also a national security concern. In February, I participated in an avian flu exercise at the National Defense University called Global Tempest. The exercise simulated a worst-case scenario flu pandemic.
“The exercise showed us firsthand how quickly our public health system and critical infrastructure services can be overwhelmed, how communication can easily break down and how panic can take hold amongst the public. We were forced with the difficult decisions of having to determine where limited medical supplies and personnel should be targeted, how the federal government can sustain the private sector and mitigate economic effects of the pandemic, and if and when the Department of Defense should be called in to assist with civilian efforts.
“This exercise taught us a valuable lesson: we must be prepared at all levels to deal with a large-scale public health emergency such as pandemic flu. This system must be able to respond in any type of crisis, but more importantly, this system must be ready to respond before the crisis begins.
“Just last week, I hosted a pandemic flu planning conference in Kansas with Senator Brownback and Governor Sebelius. The conference included other federal, state and local officials, the business community, universities, health providers and hospitals, school administrators and many other stakeholders who came together to make sure Kansas is prepared in the event of an influenza pandemic.
“At the federal level, Senator Clinton and I took the lead last October and introduced legislation to help strengthen our nation’s flu vaccine system. The Influenza Vaccine Security Act takes a comprehensive approach and includes several provisions to improve our vaccine market and delivery system for the seasonal flu, but it also provides the framework that is absolutely critical during a pandemic flu.”
Senator Clinton:
“It is more critical than ever to ensure that our basic seasonal flu vaccine production and distribution system is capable of delivering vaccines to all who need them, especially with the threat of an avian flu pandemic looming over us. We must have a system in place that could handle rapid vaccine production, mobilization and delivery.
“Many providers have contacted us to express frustration at their continuing inability to accurately predict at which point they may be able to provide needed supplies of influenza vaccine to their patients. At a time when we routinely use tracking to trace deliveries of other goods in the private market, we still cannot accurately predict when a vaccine order placed in the summer might actually be delivered to a provider in the winter. Our legislation establishes a tracking system through which we could better trace the distribution of vaccine from the factory to the provider and identify counties with high numbers of priority populations. With such a system in place, we could easily determine in times of shortage where vaccine was most needed and facilitate distribution to those areas. All of this could take place in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks.”
Senator Roberts:
“Senator Clinton and I also recognize the critical need for domestic-based vaccine manufacturers and increased production capacity in the event of a flu vaccine shortage or public health emergency that would require a mass need for vaccines or other countermeasures. This is why our bill improves the ability of the current manufacturers to remain in the U.S. market and encourages more companies to enter the market with domestic-based production facilities. We provide grants to manufacturers for technical assistance from the Food and Drug Administration and grants for capital improvements in technology or production capacity.
“Our bill also addresses the need to quickly find medical professionals in the event of an emergency. We require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work with state and local health departments to develop a registry of medical personnel who can provide services during a public health emergency. Such a system was required under the Bioterrorism Act passed by Congress four years ago, but there is still no working system in place. This is unacceptable.
“We must have a system that can easily identify doctors and other health professionals who can assist during a public health emergency, especially during an emergency that affects many areas across state lines. This will allow federal, state and local officials to move quickly and efficiently to provide immediate care to those in need.
Senator Clinton:
“Our legislation would also provide funding for research into new vaccine-based technology, such as cell-based technology. We rely on production methods that haven’t kept pace with our other biomedical advances. In order to make a vaccine, strains of influenza virus are cultivated in chicken eggs, a non-sterile environment. Many of the contamination problems we have seen with vaccine result when problems arise in this cultivation process. Although we’ve got to rely on this technology for the time being, we need to increase research into safer, faster, and more reliable methods of vaccine production.”
Senator Roberts:
“Over the last several months, Senator Clinton and I have worked with our colleagues on the HELP Committee to include the provisions from our bill we discussed today in the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act Reauthorization or the Bioshield II bill to be considered by the committee and full Senate. We are thankful for all of the attention and focus on planning for a pandemic flu, but we also believe that a few more steps need to be taken to make sure we are ready. This is why we are urging our colleagues to consider our legislation, the Influenza Vaccine Security Act. I finally want to thank Senator Clinton for all of her hard work and dedication to this issue.”
