By ALAN ZIBEL
Baltimore Business Journal
Maryland’s hospitals are ramping up their emergency response plans and buying supplies in preparation for the possibility that avian influenza could strike the United States.
Public health officials worry that the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has killed millions of birds and more than 70 people in Asia, will mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans. The World Health Organization says a worldwide outbreak of influenza is more likely now than at any time in nearly 40 years.
Maryland’s hospitals in the coming months will receive $7 million in federal funding to help prepare for disasters, said Frank Monius, an assistant vice president with the Maryland Hospital Association.
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