Word: besserer
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...Besser: It's critically important that people trust you during a public health crisis. And to engender that trust, people have to feel that you're going to be open and honest and tell them what you know. And, so, our approach here has been to try and do that, do it on a regular basis, tell people what you know, what you don't know. We want to let people make some decisions for themselves with that information. So we've tried to be out with the media as much as possible, to be able to share the information...
...While we're not out of the woods, we are seeing some encouraging signs," says CDC acting director Richard Besser...
...Richard Besser isn't one for easing into a new job. Before becoming the acting director-general of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the trained pediatrician was the head of the CDC's emergency response office, a position he took in 2005, hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. Now, just a few months after being named the CDC's interim head - in lieu of a political appointment from President Barack Obama - Besser has been thrust into the role of the government's public health commander-in-chief, guiding the agency through what could be the first new influenza...
...Besser: That's been a question that has come up many times. The first definitive case of H1N1 was not diagnosed in Mexico, but in San Diego. So at the time that the outbreak was first diagnosed, it was already in the U.S. Our pandemic planning, overarching planning that was done largely around avian flu, had approached or looked at [an outbreak that] would originate off our shores. Then you could send in a team and attempt to contain it, if it were in a small area. Once it moved out of a small area, it's impossible to contain...
...Besser: It depends on the type of illness. You know, influenza is one that if it's originating in a small village in Mexico, you might think about trying to contain it in that setting. Even that's very optimistic, though, given how easily influenza spreads from person to person. Once it reaches an urban environment in any country, your ability to contain it is pretty much nil. But your other point that countries need to beef up their public health capabilities around the world - definitely. We as a global community are only as strong as our weakest link...