Senate approves $3.9 billion for bird flu

WASHINGTON, Sep 29, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The Senate approved more than $3 billion in spending to bolster national defenses against avian flu late Thursday, though it remained unclear whether the money would survive a conference with the House.

The measure, attached to a military funding bill, spends $3.08 billion to increase federal stockpiles of anti-viral medications, including Tamiflu, made by Gilead Pharmaceuticals. The drug can ease flu symptoms and may cut the chances of transmitting the disease.

The amendment also spends $125 million to boost domestic production of an avian flu vaccine, though it does not specify where the money will be spent.

The Bush administration signed a contract in August with Sanofi-Pasteur to begin producing initial doses of a vaccine against H5N1, the virus causing avian flu.

Public-health experts both inside and outside the government have sounded alarm bells about the danger of an avian flu pandemic. Humans have no natural immunity to the virus, meaning if it spreads, it could cause widespread illness and death.

An estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta predicts widespread human-to-human transmission could kill as many as 200,000 people in the United States.

Efficient human-to-human spread has not yet been observed in Southeast Asia, however, where avian flu currently is circulating. Still, the disease has sickened more than 115 people and killed at least 58 since 2004, according to the World Health Organization.

"We have to prepare, and we have to prepare now," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the minority whip, at a news briefing on the legislation.

Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt on Wednesday, urging the administration to obtain enough anti-viral medication for half the of U.S. population.

Thursday's amendment was designed to pay for that request, said Allison Dobson, a spokeswoman for the amendment's sponsor, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

Some experts have questioned the value of stockpiling large amounts of anti-viral medications, however. The drug is effective only if given within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, and requires several doses to complete an effective course. Those strictures can make it less likely the drug can reach patients on time and effectively treat them.

The amendment also sends $33 million to the CDC to boost the agency's surveillance against avian flu in Asia and elsewhere, but it remains unclear whether all of the funds will stay within the military appropriations bill by the time it reaches President George W. Bush's desk.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said he agreed to allow a voice vote on the amendment, "so that it will be in this bill" when it goes into negotiations with the Republican-led House, but he did not say he would back the $3.9 billion in spending at that time.

"I had some questions about this amendment," Stevens said on the Senate floor.

Todd Zwillich covers healthcare policy matters for UPI. E-mail: sciencemail@upi.com

URL: www.upi.com