On Our Own Eh?

So, if there's a great big bird flu pandemic, the federal government is saying that the first, last, and what would likely be the only line of defense is state and local authorities. That makes sense. It's not as though the federal government can break out the US Army, impose quarantines and otherwise disrupt interstate commerce in actual or potential violation of federal law and the US Constitution unless someone wants to immediately impeach the President for violating the the civil rights of all US citizens. That's simply crazy talk.

Of course, the average citizens of this country will probably have a slightly different reaction should the big bird flu (no, not the one where the big orange bird that talks) hit:



Seriously though, the federal government must do more to stockpile medical supplies and bolster state and local efforts to deal with mass casualty events, such as a bird flu pandemic. Encouraging pharamceutical companies to produce and provide more antiviral medications is a help, as is doing more to limit lawsuits on vaccines that could help prevent or stem flu pandemics.

UPDATE:
New Jersey has a mess on its hands. They only have 18,500 doses stocked of the antivirals that might be able to protect against the avian flu. The state doesn't have its own secured lab facility and has to ship samples to a lab in Iowa. That doesn't make much sense when time is of the essence to detect and identify animals or people who have avian flu.