By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – State health officials are trying to prepare for the possibility of a flu pandemic. A public health planning document reveals that a flu pandemic in Alabama could cause more than four-thousand deaths and result in rationing vaccines and anti-viral drugs. The document also details infection control measures that might be necessary, including wearing masks, screening travelers and limiting events that might draw crowds. Alabama's planning document calculates that, under a most likely scenario and depending on the rate of infection, the pandemic would kill up to four-thousand people. The simulation also predicts between 345-thousand and 807-thousand people would be infected. Influenza is difficult to contain because the disease is infectious 24 hours before symptoms begin.