http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124090884691363061.html
So just exactly where did the money go and what was it used for?
The flu outbreak comes as the Obama administration seeks a new head of its Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC. The Senate on Tuesday is expected to begin debating the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary. Democratic and Republican aides in the Senate said they expected Senate approval.
The U.S. government is far better prepared for an outbreak than it was when SARS awakened politicians and the public to the notion that infectious diseases continue to be deadly, even with modern vaccines.
Prodded by SARS and the avian flu scare that followed, President George W. Bush in 2005 issued a pandemic flu preparedness plan. Since 2006, $6.2 billion has been appropriated to stockpile antivirals, step up surveillance and improve vaccine-making and technology.
But state and local health departments -- which are often the first to detect new infectious threats -- haven't received federal funds for pandemic flu preparedness since 2006. Many of the agencies have cut staff and services in the recession.
"You can't stand up to this kind of capacity overnight if you haven't had resources to keep people on staff," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a public health advocacy organization.
