Bird Flu Preparations Earn Special Review

Newswise — Amid a climate of worldwide attentiveness to avian influenza, a disease that's resulted in the slaughter of millions of birds and the deaths of more than 100 people, the Institute of Food Technologists will soon offer expert insight on the issues surrounding this overly anticipated scourge.

During the IFT Annual Meeting + FOOD EXPO®, June 25-28, a special session has now been scheduled offering the latest information and perspective on avian influenza from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Monday afternoon, June 26, CDC epidemiologist Dr. Richard Schieber will discuss possible scenarios leading to the spread of the disease, vaccination plans for humans, use of antiviral agents to prevent spread of disease; the importance of pandemic planning, and more.

In 2005, Schieber spent nearly a month traveling throughout Southeast Asia advising government officials in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand about pandemic planning and the best uses of U.S. federal assistance. For the past year, Schieber has also served as a special consultant to the World Bank for international pandemic influenza planning.

Now in its 66th year, IFT Annual Meeting + FOOD EXPO® is the world's single largest annual scientific meeting and technical exposition of its kind, regularly registering up to 20,000 attendees, nearly 1,000 exhibiting companies, and more than 1,000 technical presentations. Rated among the largest shows in America*, the meeting and expo delivers comprehensive, cutting-edge research and opinion from food science-, technology-, marketing- and business-leaders. * According to Tradeshow Week® 200 magazine. <end>

Founded in 1939, and with world headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, the Institute of Food Technologists is a not-for-profit international scientific society with 22,000 members working in food science, technology and related professions in industry, academia and government. As the society for food science and technology, IFT brings sound science to the public discussion of food issues. For more on IFT, see http://www.ift.org.