Mesa County's top health official meets with Grand Junction City Council Monday to discuss the Avian flu and whether it's something for residents to worry about.
There have been 150 cases of the Avian virus, or bird flu, diagnosed around the world, with nearly half of those cases resulting in death.
During the 20th century there were three flu pandemics, with the 1918 pandemic being the most severe. More than 650?thousand died, a number dwarfing the more than 500-thousand dead as a result of all wars fought during the 1900s. During the 1918 pandemic, 130 people died in Mesa County.
While the federal government is working with state and local governments to come up with a plan to develop vaccines to combat a fatal strain of the flu,
the problem is that at this point it cannot be determined if the Avian flu strain will become a worldwide problem, however Dr. Aduddle says another pandemic is just a matter of time.
Dr. Aduddle and his staff is working with county medical responders, coming up with scenarios and plans to put into action as soon as a flu strain becomes a threat.
