Australia’s Chief Medical Officer and the head of the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control, Professor Paul Kelly, addresses media about the Australian Government’s $22.1 million investment to strengthen public health preparedness against avian influenza by increasing the number of pandemic flu vaccines in the National Medical Stockpile.
The Australian Government is investing $22.1 million to strengthen public health preparedness against bird flu, by increasing and diversifying readily deployable pandemic flu vaccines in the National Medical Stockpile.
This investment will add to the work the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has been carrying out to prepare Australia for a possible outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
The work includes monitoring risks to human health from bird flu, updating public health guidelines and updating our response plans.
The National Medical Stockpile also holds influenza antivirals, which can be used to treat people with severe influenza symptoms.
Taking a One Health approach, the interim CDC has been working closely with Australia’s agricultural and environmental sectors.
Although human cases of bird flu to date have been rare and generally mild, and the current risk to the Australian population remains very low, there is no room for complacency.
- Bird flu and human health information on our website
- the Department of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries website.