Posted on 10/04/2005 12:02:27 PM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush asked Congress on Tuesday to consider giving him powers to use the military to enforce quarantines in case of an avian influenza epidemic.
He said the military, and perhaps the National Guard, might be needed to take such a role if the feared H5N1 bird flu virus changes enough to cause widespread human infection.
"If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country? And how do you, then, enforce a quarantine?" Bush asked at a news conference.
"It's one thing to shut down airplanes. It's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu. And who best to be able to effect a quarantine?" Bush added.
"One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move. So that's why I put it on the table. I think it's an important debate for Congress to have."
Bird flu has killed more than 60 people in four Asian nations since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.
Experts fear that the H5N1 bird flu virus, which appears to be highly fatal when it infects people, will develop the ability to pass easily from person to person and would cause a pandemic that would kill millions.
"And I think the president ought to have all ... assets on the table to be able to deal with something this significant," Bush said.
He noted that some governors may object to the federal government commandeering the National Guard, which is under state command in most circumstances.
POLICE DUTIES BANNED
"But Congress needs to take a look at circumstances that may need to vest the capacity of the president to move beyond that debate. And one such catastrophe or one such challenge could be an avian flu outbreak," Bush said.
The active duty military is currently forbidden from undertaking law enforcement duties by the federal Posse Comitatus Act.
That law, passed in 1878 after the U.S. Civil War, does not prohibit National Guard troops under state control from doing police work. But, unless the law is changed, it would keep them from doing so if they were activated by Washington under federal control.
While the law allows the president to order the military to take control and do police work in an extreme emergency, the White House has been traditionally reluctant to usurp state powers.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters he was not aware of any current planning by the military to help respond to a flu pandemic.
But he noted that after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf region, Bush had asked Congress to consider giving the military control over initial response in dealing with major natural or other domestic disasters.
"Obviously the (Defense) Department has a tremendous amount of capability in a lot of areas. And we are a large force," Whitman said, noting also that the military had deployed field hospitals to Louisiana after the hurricanes.
Health experts are working to develop vaccines that would protect against the H5N1 strain of flu, because current influenza vaccines will not.
And countries are also developing stockpiles of drugs that can reduce the risk of serious disease or even sometimes prevent infection -- but supplies and manufacturing capacity are both limited.
Bush said he was involved in planning for an influenza pandemic, which experts say will definitely come, although they cannot predict when, or whether it will be H5N1 or some other virus. (Additional reporting by Maggie Fox)
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looking for more and more situations in which the Commander-in-Chief should be allowed to use American military forces on our own soil?
Wasn't everyone -itching for him to after the hurricanes?! Since we're putting 'birds' under martial law how about the Canada Geese!!! I hate those things (and I love animals!).
Of the 15 known strains of avian flu, health officials say, the H5N1 form is especially worrisome for its ability to mutate quickly and to pick up genes from other flu strains. And as the latest outbreak shows, the virus certainly can harm humans.
So, if a pandemic broke out, killing say...50% of CA's population, you would not want martial law declared and CA quarantined?
I seriously doubt that would EVER happen. Everyone knows you chum for topfeeders with a can of corn.
As I said, (directed at self:) D'uh with an apostrophe.
Thanks. Must go peruse it again.
"Is it just me, or is our President looking for more and more situations in which the Commander-in-Chief should be allowed to use American military forces on our own soil?"
I would have to say you're right. They sure are panting to use the military to "help" us lately. Most of ours is overseas and if I were paranoid I'd say they might be willing to borrow foriegn troops to help out. Mexicans maybe?
I certainly am not encouraging the use of martial law except in the most extreme cases. However, the failure of LA in the Katrina disaster exposed a glaring fault. If a governor refuses to acknowledge a disaster in the making, there has to be a mechanism to override him/her.
Nothing holds the potential for loss of life in the United States more than a bio attack or a natural pandemic. A few days dithering by an incompetent governor could easily affect many other states. That is the responsibility of the President.
I am glad he is making people aware of this now. Many Dumbocrats would ignore him if he had to make a call like that on the spur of the moment.
In the matter of Katrina, I don't believe the magnitude of the disaster called for federal intervention. Neither did George Bush, even though it cost more lives.
What if the flu hits in Iran or Venezuela... ?
"do you think his new "stealth" nominee for SCOTUS will find that Constitutional? Just wondering..."
She will carefully scrutinize the laws of say Zimbabwe and decide it's ok. Or maybe Scottish law would do.
" I've been worried about this thing for many many months '
CNN had on an epidemiologist from the CDC this afternoon.
He said the world is due for a pandemic-not, if, but, when.
Nobody knows when-next week, next year, 10 years from now.
The genesis will most likely be the avian flu mutating.
The flu would take about 12 to 16 months to run it's course. Millions would die worldwide , almost 2 million in US.
He thought that the best use of the military would be for supply logistics and not quarantine.
Most people would probably self quarantine out of fear.
His scenario was sobering- not enough hospital beds, vents or health care workers, corpses left in the streets, economy at a standstill, food and medicine in short supply, etc.
The Spanish Flu took mostly young, healthy people-fine in the morning, dead by night fall from a fulminating pneumonia.
The epidemiology community is extremely concerned about this.
From Wikipedia :
"The social effects were intense due to the speed of the epidemic. AIDS killed 25 million in its first 25 years, but the Spanish flu may have killed as many in only 25 weeks beginning in September 1918."
Additionally, they explain how the epidemic has resources (like respirators) quantified for its general occurance while a pandemic does not.
This is a "road-blocks with the 12 gauge" type event should the mutation of the virus occur with its virility and mortality rate intact.
Perhaps, what Bush is pointing out that while there is fringe federal justification accessible for total civil breakdown, as in Katrina, the timing of the event dictates the timing of the dissatifaction over the application of the highest remedies.
Should H5N1 become the next pandemic strain, the resultant morbidity and mortality could rival those of 1918, when more than half the deaths occurred among largely healthy people between 18 and 40 years of age and were caused by a virus-induced cytokine storm (see diagram) that led to the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).4 The ARDS-related morbidity and mortality in the pandemic of 1918 was on a different scale from those of 1957 and 1968 — a fact that highlights the importance of the virulence of the virus subtype or genotype. Clinical, epidemiologic, and laboratory evidence suggests that a pandemic caused by the current H5N1 strain would be more likely to mimic the 1918 pandemic than those that occurred more recently.5 If we translate the rate of death associated with the 1918 influenzavirus to that in the current population, there could be 1.7 million deaths in the United States and 180 million to 360 million deaths globally. We have an extremely limited armamentarium with which to handle millions of cases of ARDS — one not much different from that available to the front-line medical corps in 1918.
Well?
I believe it's (as of now) more accurate to say "IF it mutates to a final stage".
As it stands, it's slow from human to human, but, it won't remain slow. It will pick up speed, sorta like a sled going down a mountain. Then, we'll be screwed.
Maybe, but it's not high on my list of things to worry about.
Center for Disease Control Avian Influenza A (H5N1)
What is the risk to humans from the H5N1 virus in Asia?
The H5N1 virus does not usually infect humans. In 1997, however, the first case of spread from a bird to a human was seen during an outbreak of bird flu in poultry in Hong Kong. The virus caused severe respiratory illness in 18 people, 6 of whom died. Since that time, there have been other cases of H5N1 infection among humans.Most recently, human cases of H5N1 infection have occurred in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia during large H5N1 outbreaks in poultry. The death rate for these reported cases has been about 50 percent. Most of these cases occurred from contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces; however, it is thought that a few cases of human-to-human spread of H5N1 have occurred.
So far, spread of H5N1 virus from person to person has been rare and spread has NOT continued beyond one person. However, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that the H5N1 virus could one day be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another.
I agree with your post. Should it hit here, full blown, our economy will crash. No one will venture outside without a hazmat suit.
Does this mean that, if there were a bird flu epidemic in Mexico, Bush would use the military to seal the border?
China has been playing around with bio-weapons. They are gene splicing H5N1 with streptoccous suis(sp?)
Well, that's one we don't have to worry about.
It's worrisome enough for Dubya to make plans should it happen. Why is he doing it now? What is happening that we don't know about? This isn't the first time something like this has come up, yet it is only now, that he is making future plans...that's what's got me spooked. Why now? That's the $64, question.
No.
I'm betting $20 that this bird flu starts in the poultry biz. Mexicans not only work there, but they are also likely to keep chickens at home and to raise gamecocks. Nice arena for it to start in. :)
<cough> Hasta la vista, baby. </cough>
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