Global network could avert pandemics

Abstract

Good surveillance is key to responding to a bird flu pandemic. Jean-Paul Chretien, David L. Blazes and their colleagues propose a new network of labs modelled on existing military facilities. Avian flu has claimed close on a hundred human victims, mostly infected by contact with birds. If the virus adapts to person-to-person transmission, we could face a 1918-style pandemic. If that is to be avoided, outbreaks in birds and people must be rapidly identified and contained. Developing countries lacking the facilities for this task could be the weak link in our defences. But there is a model at hand that can solve this problem: the US military overseas research laboratories. These have shown their worth in tracking emerging infections, and with the support of donor countries and the World Health Organization, similar ‘field laboratories’ could provide the global surveillance that we need.