By Naik, Gautam
Wall Street Journal P. B1
05/29/03

A scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) is more concerned about the prospect of a worldwide influenza outbreak than he is over the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Dr. Klaus Stohr, leader of the WHO's influenza program and head of the agency's SARS investigation, says the influenza crisis poses a greater threat to world health than SARS right now. Many countries, especially developing nations, have flawed flu pandemic surveillance systems, and because of this, Stohr fears that a flu pandemic could quickly evolve into a major public health crisis. He and other scientists worry that with the increase in global travel and close quarters in urban settings, the transmission of influenza could take place at a rapid fire pace, making the task of containment nearly impossible.