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Australian flu pandemic inevitable: govt
Wednesday Aug 15 09:07 AEST
Australia will almost certainly experience a flu pandemic one day, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott says.
Mr Abbott is refusing to make influenza vaccine stockpiles available this flu season despite the deaths of six children to influenza A because he does not consider it a national emergency.
He said Australia had to be prepared for the possibility of being swamped by a dangerous strain, possibly of bird flu.
"One day there will be a flu pandemic - that is almost certain," he told ABC Radio.
"But we don't know when, we don't know where and we don't know if the current strain of bird flu is going to be the foundation for the next pandemic."
But Mr Abbott said despite the bird flu deaths of two Indonesians on Bali this week, the deadly virus remained difficult for humans to contract.
"There is no evidence as yet of efficient human to human transmission, so what we have at the moment is a disease of birds," he said.
"If humans catch it, it is very deadly but it is very hard for humans to catch.
"As far as we are aware, there has been no more than one or two, at most, cases of human to human transmissions."
Stockpiles of the flu treatment Tamiflu should not be released unless there was a national emergency, Mr Abbott said.
"The Tamiflu stockpile is out first line of defence against a possible bird flu pandemic and serious though this flue season is, it would be a mere blip if we actually had a bird flu pandemic."
He said Tamiflu was available if prescribed by a doctor.
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