Should your County Legislator plan for the possibility of a human pandemic influenza? This one will. I only had to watch a couple of days worth of TV during the Katrina catastrophe to realize that many hands had fumbled the ball in New Orleans and I didn't like the suffering I saw on the screen before me.

While we can't control our disasters, we can pretty well track what might be in store for us. As a former Boy Scout, I always loved the motto, "be prepared." As an adult, I also know that there exists a thin line between being prepared and being paranoid. So I am not trying to scare you and say to you that this evil pandemic is going to hit Erie County and wipe us out, but as a member of the Legislature, I will be informed and prepared.

Whether we like it or not, we are part of a global society. Blasts from Black Sea ship ballasts have been dumping zebra mussels into our lakes for years. We now have a clearer and cleaner lake, but some of our local fish have almost become extinct because the zebra mussels have gobbled up their food. In less than 24 hours we can travel from one end of the world to the other in the luxury of our metal birds. An infected sneeze blast could potentially carry a flu bug to many parts of the U.S. And if and when this may happen, how prepared will Erie County be?

I had the pleasure of attending a meeting the other day with members of the Legislature's Heath committee and members of the Erie County Health Department. I was pleased to see that the Health Department came to the meeting more than well prepared. They have been working on a plan for nearly 10 years. They presented us with a seven-page document that was chock full of historical data, facts, figures and statistical information that we all sat and dialogued over. I learned much in this first of many meetings that the county will provide on this issue. I feel confident, too, that this will ensure that if and when something like a pandemic hits Western New York, because we have done our homework and have developed a multi strategy, multi-disciplinary effort among local, state, federal and international governments, we will survive anything that comes our way.

In the meantime, just keep covering your mouth when you sneeze, and follow the upcoming County Health Department's recommendations on "at home" preparedness.

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