Diary Prequel Package — page 54

Had briefing at the White House on the fact that West Nile Virus can now be spread via blood transfusions (and transplants). We are in the midst of a major epidemic with about 1641 cases and 80 deaths. It has been clearly documentd now that blood transfusions can transmit WNV. We discussed how we would handle the press, etc. I strongly suggested that we avoid the mistakes of the early 1980s regarding HIV and the blood supply. I suggested that we obviously try to avoid panic, but that we make it clear that transfusions are NOT entirely risk free with regard to WNV as well as several other pathogens. It is a question of relative risk of the transfusion versus not getting the transfusion. INCREDIBLE evening - Bono the lead singer of U-2 and the best selling musician in history had called my office yesterday (his chief-of-staff) to say that he wanted to talk to me by phone or preferably in person to discuss how we could partner and how he could help me in my work on trying to get AIDS treament and care and prevention to subSaharan Africa. He had, this past year, gone to Africa in a much-publicized trip with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. At mid-day we got a call that Bono wanted to fly from Chicago to speak with me in person that evening. He did and we met at my house. We had wine, Chris cooked pasta and we had an amazing evening, talking for hours. He is alsolutely fantastic, passionate and very intelligent. He will try to help by supporting me and President Bush in the evolution of our implementation plan for Africa. Also visiting was his staff Jamie Drummond, Lucy Matthew, and Katrina...... We promised to stay in close touch and work together. I did not tell Jenny, Megan and Alison that Bono was coming to the house for dinner. When he walked in the door, they were speechless; however, he was wonderful with them. They (and I) will never forget this extraordinary night. Sept. 24, 2002 - Had CIA briefing and overall review of smallpox plan in Secr. Thompson's office with Gov. Ridge, Col. Bob Kadlac, Julie Gerberding, Jerry Hauer, and a Ridge person . Clearly Russia had modified smallpox and very likely Iraq has smallpox. We reviewed the pre-emptive plan for vaccination that will be presented to Pres. Bush tomorrow by TGT in anticipation that he will make the policy decision soon. We will recommend the 3 stage proceedure of 500,000 to 10 million to the general population. Word in the meeting is that we will definitely attack Iraq by January. Sept. 26, 2002 - White House briefing with Carol Kuntz (Assistant to VP Cheney), Kristen Silverberg, Stewart Simonson, Jerry Hauer, Bob Kadlac and others regarding smallpox vaccination policy. Carol was concerned that she was getting different signals from different people about varying toxicities among children versus adults, primary vaccinees versus re-vaccinees. Apparently, D.A. Henderson has been very dogmatic with her (what else is new?). I told her that one can go to the literature and analyze the information in many ways. Since she questioned my numbers, I just kept quite and promised myself to get back to her. Sept. 27, 2002 - Spoke with Carol Kuntz over the phone and explained some calculations that I had done (see attachment). She apologized for questioning me the day before and even made the comment that "Who is she to go mano-a mano with Tony