Pandemic Would Put Homeland Security in Charge

by Richard Knox, NPR

The White House releases details of its plan to keep the economy and government from shutting down during a flu pandemic. The plan puts the Department of Homeland Security in charge of government operations during a pandemic, giving a secondary role to the nation's public-health agency, the Department of Health and Human Services. The plan may also outline what steps businesses should be taking to prepare for a worst-case scenario, in which one-third or more of the U.S. work force could be idled by illness at the peak of a pandemic.

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, May 3, 2006