Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447737
News Briefs 4 M A R C H 2 0 0 6 W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu, by Mike Davis, 192 pp., $22. M onitoring the debate over avian flu, I can't help wondering whether we are all asking the right questions. What seems apparent to me, though, is there's still too much disagreement about the likelihood of an avian flu pandemic to be spending this much time and energy focused on one type of illness, particularly in fund- ing research and technology. As technology improves, new re- search sheds light on how viruses are transmitted and mutate. Depending on which experts one believes, an avian flu pandemic could come next month or maybe never. But before we even ad- equately address the probability of an avian flu pandemic, everyone has al- ready moved on to other questions in a flight of ideas. What can we do if the avian flu pandemic does occur? How can we avoid catching it? Are there any vaccines to prevent it? Are there drugs to help me survive if I get it? Our fam- ilies, friends, or coworkers ask us these same questions every flu season. Nurses have always provided reas- surance and responded with informa- tion from policy statements and health alerts from the Centers for Disease Con- trol and the World Health Organization. But reporters, eager to feed the informa- tion-hungry public, provide historical documentaries of previous pandemics and horror stories, only to whip up a frenzy of fear that will sell more media. Most pharmaceutical companies seize the opportunity to sell more snake oil, placebos, or worse. We want to give the best possible advice, but often feel over- whelmed trying to sift through all of the available information. How reliable is the information from the WHO, the CDC, or the pharmaceutical industry? Is it a political farce, big pharma mega- profit fantasy, or reality? Even our Pres- ident, after reading just one book on the topic, weighed in with his own solution by suggesting that we quarantine all flights at major airports if someone is suspected of being a vec- tor for the AV. No wonder everyone is so confused, frightened, or panicked around flu season. Here's what we should be asking, and what isn't getting enough discus- sion: What are we doing or not doing now that is contributing to the in- evitability of the avian flu pandemic, or any dis- ease pandemic for that matter? Mike Davis' new book on the avian flu, The Monster at our Door, discusses just that. It was written to give historical context and to personalize the doom that awaits us if we do not act to improve the public health system globally. He pro- vides a detailed explanation of how virus- es mutate and cross between species; this is the key to understanding the chain of events that are necessary in order to cause a pandemic. Davis also examines the complex interrelated problems of poverty, access to public healthcare, and control of the healthcare system by cor- porations and politicians. Many of these issues are not adequately discussed in mainstream media. Davis makes a very compelling case that Big Agribusiness practices are a major contributor to the possibility of an avian flu pandemic. Farm animals raised in large feedlots using question- able livestock feeding practices, in which animals often eat the offal or waste of other animals, are currently contributing to the mutation and spread of the avian virus and other diseases. Meanwhile, agribusiness deflects pub- lic attention by pointing at the small family farm as the culprit in spreading the disease globally. Our governments, elected officials, and pharmaceutical manufacturers are not without blame, either, writes Davis. Internationally, even where national public healthcare systems are in place, there is a lack of integrated government reporting systems for both veterinary medicine and human disease control agencies to share infor- mation. Public health sys- tems, if they exist at all, are inadequately funded to deal with even minor communicable disease outbreaks. Many coun- tries lack medications in sufficient quantity for a pandemic of any kind, due to the low profitabil- ity of vaccine production and corporate control of medicine. Davis exposes huge gaps in communication, public servic- es, healthcare, and competing and con- flicting political and corporate interests which could lead to a pandemic. Al- though his book was written before hurricanes Katrina and Rita, his sug- gestions for averting an avian flu pan- demic could have easily been applied successfully to the disaster preparation and relief effort. In the aftermath of the Katrina/Rita disaster, hundreds of CNA RN volun- teers sent to the area experienced first hand and reported to CNA the lack of adequate, timely response from private (Red Cross) and public agencies (FEMA) and the infrastructure to deal with the disaster we knew for a week would soon be upon us. We have years probably, to prepare for an avian pandemic, so why wait for what may be the ultimate shifting of deck chairs on the Titanic? Whether or not blame is correctly assigned, in just the right fractions, why not start changing the way we approach and fund public healthcare now? Do we have the incli- nation or political will? How do we start? CNA is now working on an initiative to help clean out the political system of the corrupting influences of corpo- rate money. We see this as a first step on the long road to getting universal healthcare in our nation. Davis' new book is a good wake-up call. We need to consider all ideas, how- ever out of the ordinary they may seem at first glance. —Deborah Burger, RN We Need Stronger Doors