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Commentary

Nature 440, 25-26 (2 March 2006) | doi:10.1038/440025a; Published online 1 March 2006

Global network could avert pandemics

J. P. Chretien1, J. C. Gaydos1, J. L. Malone1 & D. L. Blazes2

  1. J. P. Chretien, J. C. Gaydos and J. L. Malone are at the DoD-GEIS, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
  2. D. L. Blazes is at the US Naval Medical Research Center Detachment, Lima, Peru.

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Good surveillance is key to responding to a bird flu pandemic. Jean-Paul Chretien, David L. Blazes and their colleagues propose a new network of labs modelled on existing military facilities.

Since late 2003, an avian influenza epidemic has caused human deaths in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, China and, this year, Turkey and Iraq. So far, most or all of these human infections were acquired directly from birds; if the virus becomes easily transmissible from person to person, we could face a devastating pandemic.

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