Will a pandemic influenza occur? If so, when will it happen?

Julie L. Gerberding
Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Unfortunately, pandemics are just unpredictable. We can’t say whether or not the bird flu will evolve into a pandemic or not. It is very widespread… on many continents right now. It certainly can infect people occasionally but it absolutely does not have the ability to be spread efficiently from one person to another. For a pandemic to occur the virus would really have to change to a form that was much more rapidly transmitted. We are hoping that doesn’t happen, but because it will happen some day...either with this bird flu or some other strain of flu…we have to take the steps to be prepared.