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Interview: Stephen Jay, MD
Chair, Department of Public Health
IU School of Medicine

For several years now, we’ve been hearing stories in the news about the possibility of facing an influenza pandemic in the United States.

So far, the strain of flu that has the attention of the world's scientific community is known as the H5N1 virus, as well as the avian flu, or bird flu.

Whatever it's called, so far there is no vaccine shown to prevent that strain of flu.

And although there are flu medicines on the market, until the flu hits, there's no way to know whether a medicine has the power to knock-out this particular virus.

There were flu pandemics in 1918, 1957, and 1968. Some experts say we're overdue for another significant flu outbreak.

The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are urging local governments to begin planning for a widespread outbreak of illness.

Barbara Lewis and co-host Dr. David Crabb talk with Steven Jay, MD, chairman of the Department of Public Health at the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Jay is deeply enmeshed in the pandemic planning process.

Additional Resources:

• Get state and national information on flu pandemic preparations at pandemicflu.gov.
• Read Indiana's offfical Pandemic Influenza Plan prepared by the Indiana State Department of Health. (PDF)
• The IU Center for Bioethics offers pandemic planning resources for professionals and scholars.

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