Only 30% of Irish Business Think There is a A(H1N1)v Swine Flu Pandemic

I recently attended a seminar in Dublin on Pandemic Planning and one of the presenters asked the question of the audience "how many think there is a flu pandemic ?" about 30% of this audience of around 150 companies from all over Ireland indicated they thought there was.
Now I'm not sure if some were shy or just didn't want to participate so lets say 10% fell into this category this still leaves 60% who believed there was No Pandemic!
So I guess if they felt there was no pandemic and these people were representing their companies interest in the current A(H1N1)v Pandemic (Which by the way is a pandemic according to WHO ECDC CDC etc..)then probably they have not put any plans in place. Unless they did it before this as part of their business continuity plan. Or perhaps they feel their business continuity plan will suffice (not something I would recommend as a pandemic plan is completely different in most cases)
My hope is I am wrong and that these companies are taking this risk to their business seriously and if they haven't already put a plan in place then after the seminar they decided to do so. But what about all the other companies who didn't attend ?
If we take this small sample as indicative of Irish companies how do we get the message out there that this is a real risk and they should plan.
Interestingly the HSE was also represented at this seminar and i would say 90% of questions were asked of him and nearly all indicated the belief that the HSE will not be able to cope if this hits the expected peak.
What do you think do you believe all is well as we are led to believe by industry representatives who tell us Irish business is well prepared !!

WHO Director General States that 40 percent of the fatalities concern young adults -- in good health

PARIS (AFP) – Swine flu spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 percent of the fatalities are young adults in good health, the world's top health official warned in an interview appearing Saturday.

"This virus travels at an unbelievable, almost unheard of speed," World Health Organisation Director General Margaret Chan told France's Le Monde daily in an interview.

"In six weeks it travels the same distance that other viruses take six months to cover," Chan said.

"Sixty percent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems," Chan said. "This means that 40 percent of the fatalities concern young adults -- in good health -- who die of a viral fever in five to seven days.
more on this can be seen at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090829/hl_afp/healthfluwho_20090829132344

This is a different view than I think most will have taken up from previous statements by WHO
Comments apreciated.

IT Risk and Compliance Report

I've scanned through an interesting report by the IT Policy Compliance Group which may be of interest to you. This is their annual report which looks at IT Governance, Risk and Compliance with a view to improving business results and mitigating financial risk.

Among their findings were that that firms with the most mature practices boasted:
> 96% lower financial losses from the loss or theft of customer data
> 50% less spent on regulatory compliance annually
> 17% higher revenues
> 14% higher profits
> 18% higher customer satisfaction rates
> 17% higher customer retention levels

Interesting BBC article this morning "UN warns over swine flu in birds"

Below is an extract from the article on the BBC website
The discovery of swine flu in birds in Chile raises concerns about the spread of the virus, the UN warns.Last week the H1N1 virus was found in turkeys on farms in Chile. The UN now says poultry farms elsewhere in the world could also become infected.
Scientists are worried that the virus could theoretically mix with more dangerous strains. It has previously spread from humans to pigs.However, swine flu remains no more severe than seasonal flu.

read more http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8224923.stm

The main worry is that this could be the way that the virus mutates into a much more lethal strain and obviously it would make it very difficult to contain and control the spread of the virus around the world if it gets into the bird population.