Even so, a human pandemic caused by A(H5N1) is by no means inevitable.
Roche said companies had been creating their own stockpiles for use by their employees in the event of a pandemic caused by avian flu.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the 2009-10 global H1N1 pandemic caused an estimated 284,000 deaths worldwide.
IQ83 is based on the 1978 novel by Arthur Herzog which tells of a global pandemic caused by a new disease that gradually reduces its victims' intelligence levels.
That was also true for the swine flu pandemic caused by the novel A/H1N1 strain in 2009-10, a new study published online in PLoS One found.
Health authorities and drug companies say that supplies are generally ample for the two drugs that would be vital to treating a pandemic caused by swine flu, but that they are acting to prevent hoarding.
Studies have shown that a severe global pandemic, caused by viruses like influenza or coronavirus, could bring the global economy, which is ever reliant on global communications and transportation networks, to its knees.
But the findings do not mean that governments around the world should stop stockpiling hundreds of millions of doses of Tamiflu for use in the event of an influenza pandemic caused by the A (H5N1) avian influenza virus, said the organization expert, Dr. Keiji Fukuda.
This was the first pandemic caused by a new subtype that was proven virologically.
Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a major pandemic, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
In June 2009, the World Health Organization announced the 21st century's first influenza pandemic caused by pandemic influenza H1N1 2009 (H1N1 pdm).
