Just in time for the completed reverse-engineering of the Spanish Flu of 1918, we celebrate Pandemic Flu Awareness week: a chance to gather round the fire and harken back to the days of yore, when a seemingly unending war raged on halfway around the world and millions lived in fear of a deadly virus on the verge of sudden outbreak.

Glad that’s all behind us.

In the spirit of the season, Brainblog provides a list of resources and references that might be of interest should we ever find ourselves in that situation again. In particular, the WHO influenza preparedness plan certainly sounds up-to-date and comprehensive. Although, having just finished Fooled By Randomness, I’m left wondering whether their bird-flu survey has discounted any black swans.

Update: At least it’s good to know the Bush administration has all of their ducks in a row. Stewart Simonson is the appointed official in charge of response to a major health crisis. Here is a summary of his qualifications:

Simonson graduated from the University of Wisconsin law school in 1994 and served as legal counsel to Tommy Thompson while he was governor of Wisconsin from 1995 to 1999. Simonson then followed Thompson to Washington when the governor was appointed as head of HHS. Simonson’s bio at HHS states that “from 2001-2003, he was the HHS Deputy General Counsel and provided legal advice and counsel to the Secretary on public health preparedness matters. Prior to joining HHS, Simonson served as corporate secretary and counsel for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK).”

Yup. He’s been a lawyer for 10 years. That’s it. That’s what has qualified him to implement the national response to a pandemic flu. Can’t wait to see the ‘heckuva job’ he pulls off.

Related Posts:

• you’re on your own (April, 2006)
• Space Cowboy (October, 2006)
• the ‘marlboro man’ has PTSD (January, 2006)
• Oops! I Misplaced 19,000,000 Acres. (October, 2005)
• “Big Bailouts” by % of GDP (November, 2008)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 at 4:48 pm and is filed under doomsaying. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.