Pandemic Influenza Plan, 2017 Update

"The last Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Department of Health and Human Services Update was issued in 2009. Since that time, our nation has experienced, and learned from, the 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic and the emergence of other influenza viruses of concern, such as H7N9 that emerged in 2013 in China and continues to cause periodic outbreaks. We have also responded to other serious disease outbreaks, including Ebola and Zika virus. Each instance has highlighted the need to be as prepared as we can be—because a fast, effective public health response demands it.

The original 2005 Plan was audacious in its goals—for domestic pandemic vaccine production capacity, for stockpiling of antiviral drugs and pre-pandemic vaccines, and for using community mitigation measures to slow spread of disease. At the time of the Plan’s writing, the Nation was wholly unprepared to address the significant medical and health needs that a severe pandemic might present. Challenges included limited domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity, a very low supply of antiviral drugs, and lack of community planning for responding to an infectious disease outbreak. More than ten years later, we have many successes to celebrate—but we must not become complacent, because so many challenges remain..."
Pandemic Plan