They have set up a mock pandemic exercise...

The World Health Organisation based in the United States is taking the threat of the bird flu virus extremely seriously.  In the latest initiative by the WHO they have setup a mock pandemic exercise in order to simulate what they would do in the case of a real crisis exploding in some part of the world.  The initiative is called Panstop 2007 and it is a two day training program in which participants are given scenarios and situations in which the H5N1 bird flu illness has mutated into a form that is highly contagious between humans.

In this case they are assuming that a bird flu pandemic has broken out in the Asian country of Cambodia and the World Health Organisation’s officials have to coordinate a response from different countries by using the phone and communicating with offices and health officials in different areas of the world. The mock bird flu pandemic simulated the death of a number of individuals and WHO officials were immediately sending the flu drug Tamiflu, protective apparatus such as masks and gloves to different parts of the world from various stockpiles that the WHO maintains at strategic bases. The response also involved getting samples from the dead patients so that they could be sent to a laboratory for analysis as well as calculating the number of Tamiflu courses that were likely to be needed for this particular mock bird flu pandemic. 

Other mock bird flu pandemic exercises have been carried out previously but this particular one is without a doubt the most extensive and detailed one and should greatly assist the World Health Organisation should the H5N1 virus mutate into a new form which is contagious between humans. The pandemic exercise will not actually move equipment and Tamiflu bird flu drugs around the world but will just deal with the logistical aspects of doing so and will give the WHO officials a better idea of the timing needed to move essential equipment around the world.