“Pandemic peril” reads the hammer headline on this cover story, which looks at public health preparedness given the threat of a deadly influenza outbreak.

Specifically, the story examined the funding and other resources sought, and the likelihood they would be provided. The story begins, “Three years ago, Congress appropriated billions of dollars to HHS for the agency's pandemic influenza plan after animal outbreaks of the extremely pathogenic avian flu were discovered in a dozen countries throughout the world. Today, even though scientists say the threat of a pandemic is still very real, the nation's interest in the issue has subsided, and HHS says it does not have the requested resources to fully implement the plan.”