Temores en Washington ante la posible llegada de la gripe aviar

Hoy el New York Times reportó que científicos han encontrado relación entre la gripe aviar que está caminando de Asia a Europa y que ya ha empezado a matar humanos con la terrible epidemia de gripe que mató a millones en 1918, y en la capital de Estados Unidos hay intranquilidad:

"Health officials have warned for years that a virulent bird flu could kill millions of people, but few in Washington have seemed alarmed. After a closed-door briefing last week, however, fear of an outbreak swept official Washington, which was still reeling from the poor response to Hurricane Katrina.

The day after the briefing, led by Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and other senior government health officials, the Senate squeezed $3.9 billion for flu preparations into a Pentagon appropriations bill...."

Es imposible saber si aves portadoras del virus lleguen a América, pero si llegan, más vale estar preparados para ser el mensaje.