U.S. Flu Plan: Expect Chaos

U.S. Flu Plan: Expect Chaos
WASHINGTON (AP)—A flu pandemic would cause massive disruptions lasting for months, and cities, states and businesses must make plans now to keep functioning—and not count on a federal rescue, the Bush administration said Wednesday.

"Our nation will face this global threat united in purpose and united in action in order to best protect our families, our communities, our nation and our world from the threat of pandemic influenza,'' President Bush said in a letter to Americans noting the release of an updated national pandemic response strategy.

Bush last fall proposed a $7.1 billion plan to prepare for the next worldwide outbreak of a super-strain of influenza. Wednesday's report updates that plan, an incremental step that basically outlines exactly which government agency is responsible for some 300 tasks, many already under way