For release: Oct. 30, 2007

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact:	Charles Henderson
	Office:	314-444-8311
	Cell:	314-609-5972
	E-mail:	charles.b.henderson@stls.frb.org
	Joe Elstner
	Office:	314-444-8902
	Cell:	314-640-3526
	E-mail:	joseph.c.elstner@stls.frb.org
Online Press Room:		www.stlouisfed.org/news/press_room/contact.html

WHAT: "An Impending Influenza Pandemic? What Has Been Learned Since 1918," a symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 9, 8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

WHERE: Washington University in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch Hall, Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom

WHO: Thomas A. Garrett, assistant vice president and economist, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; and William Stanhope, associate professor, School of Public Health, Saint Louis University

WHY: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that a flu outbreak would cause 1.9 million deaths in the United States and result in initial economic costs of $200 billion. Economist Thomas Garrett will review the economic impact of the influenza pandemic of 1918, which may hold parallels for a similar crisis today, while Professor Stanhope will contrast the different responses by public officials and health-care institutions in Philadelphia and St. Louis to the 1918 pandemic.

A panel discussion on public education and preparedness plans will follow at 10:45 a.m. Panelists will include: Pamela Rice Walker, acting director, City of St. Louis Dept. of Health; Michael P. Williams, Ph.D., director, Communicable Disease Control Services, St. Louis County Department of Health; and Dr. Francisco Averhoff, U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

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