# 1921
Emmy Fitri, a reporter for the Jakarta Post, gives us a background piece explaining why scientists and doctors are concerned about another pandemic, and why their readers should be concerned as well.
Sunday, April 27, 2008 1:46 PM
Why bird flu? Why a pandemic simulation?
Emmy Fitri , The Jakarta Post , Jembrana, Bali | Sun, 04/27/2008 12:48 PM | Current Issues
CHECKING CHICKENS: A health official examines residents' chickens in Dangin Tukadaya village in Bali after a bird flu pandemic was declared in the area during a simulation on Friday. (JP/R.Berto Wedhatama)
When SARS struck several countries in 2003, the world was in shock. It was not prepared for the airborne infectious disease that moved like wildfire.
In the aftermath of the SARS outbreak, history repeated over and over and there were many could-haves and should-haves in dealing with it.
Ugly pandemics are part of our history. Years ago, in a less globalized world, the 1918 influenza pandemic and 1968 Hong Kong flu were precursors to the avian flu. They can teach us a lot about how to handle a pandemic.
It seems the world doesn't want to take any more chances. A disease outbreak could trigger a more horrid pandemic with a mere lack of preparation contributing to the death of millions.
When the avian influenza, originally a poultry disease, first emerged in Hong Kong in 1997, many scientists feared the H5N1 virus causing the flu could potentially become a pandemic transmitted between humans.
However, others have contradicted this theory, saying the fear is all hype.
Amid ongoing debate, Indonesia, the hardest hit country by the spread of avian influenza, has stepped up measures in anticipation of a pandemic.
"We didn't have proper warning systems in place for Indonesia's past natural disasters, including floods and earthquakes," said I Nyoman Kandun, the Health Ministry's director general of communicable disease and environment health.
"We'd like to be prepared for an avian influenza pandemic should it occur here," he said.
