IN 2007 THE SPP SECURITY PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP PREPARED FOR A FLU PANDEMIC DID THEY HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL?

By Paul McGuire

Mexican soldiers wear surgical face masks as they stand on an Army vehicle in Mexico City . Fears of a global swine flu epidemic have swept the global media. Infections in the United States ,Canada, and possible infections also popped up in Europe and New Zealand. All the deaths from the new flu so far have been in Mexico, mostly in and around the capital, one of Latin America's most important centers of business, government, culture and tourism
On the radio and in my book “Are You Ready?” I detailed the comprehensive plans for the SPP and the North American Union. I also outlined the “Security Prosperity Partnership of North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza.” In that briefing to you I discussed the comprehensive plans for Canada, Mexico and the United States to deal specifically with a “bird flu epidemic.” Several years later, we are now in the midst of a potential “pandemic,” if it should not be contained. I had the opportunity of interviewing the top General at NORTHCOM regarding preparedness and protecting the common security perimeter of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
In late 2007, the Bush administration issued a “directive” establishing a “National Strategy for Public Health and Medical Preparedness” based on Biodefense for the 21st Century (see PDF). HSPD 21, short for Homeland Security Presidential Directive (signing statement bypassing Congress), defines “catastrophic health event” as “any natural or manmade incident, including terrorism, that results in a number of ill or injured persons sufficient to overwhelm the capabilities of immediate local and regional emergency response and health care systems.”
In August of 2007 the SPP, Security Prosperity Partnership of North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza.” The 2007 North American Union Report which we covered in 2007 in the McGuire Intelligence Report, "Canada, Mexico and the United States face a growing threat posed by the spread of avian influenza and the potential emergence of a human influenza pandemic. The highly pathogenic (HPAI) H5N1 avian influenzavirus, which re-emerged in Asia in late 2003, has already spread to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Although the virus has not yet reached North America, Canada, Mexico and the United States must be prepared for the day when it -- or some other highly contagious virus -- does.”
The Council on Foreign Relations reported, “At the March 2006 Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) summit in Cancun, the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States committed to developing a comprehensive, coordinated and science-based North American approach to prepare for and manage avian and pandemic influenza.”
The CFR Report continued, “The North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza outlines how Canada, Mexico and the United States intend to work together to combat an outbreak of avian influenza or an influenza pandemic in North America. The Plan complements national emergency management plans and builds upon the core principles of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, the standards and guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO) -- including the revised International Health Regulations, as well as the rules and provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO)."