Preparing for the Bird Flu Pandemic

The latest news on bird flu today: it's now in Sweden. Two wild ducks that were found dead there had been infected.

Two wild ducks in Sweden sounds distant, almost picturesque. But there is nothing distant in the warnings Americans are hearing this week about bird flu.

It will come to North America, probably within months, we're told. There's a fifty-fifty chance it will jump to human-to-human transmission — the "pandemic" path. And then, the ominous warning that bird flu could kill millions.

The guidance from Washington this week: stash poweder milk and canned tuna under the bed.

Tune in for a reality check on and a serious conversation about preparing for bird flu.

Guests:

Nancy Shute, covers health and medicine for US News & World Report. Her article "Spreading Its Wings" appears in this week's issue.

Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Dr. Irwin Redlener, associate dean and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the MailMan School of Public Health at Columbia University

Alfred Cotton, director of corporate image at Nypro, a global plastics company

Jennifer Steck, captain with Denver Police Department, working with the Colorado Ready initiative