OTTAWA - The chief public health officer says last year's H1N1 pandemic could have been as deadly as the Spanish Flu had it not been for government spade work.
Dr. David Butler-Jones says the outbreak "could have been much worse" than it actually turned out to be.
He credits years of preparatory work by the federal and provincial governments for making one of the country's largest mass immunizations run relatively smoothly.
He was appearing before a Senate committee, which is reviewing Canada's readiness for another flu pandemic in the wake of the H1N1 virus.
The virus killed more than 400 Canadians and made many more sick.
By contrast, the Spanish flu pandemic that started in 1918 was possibly the deadliest outbreak of all time, killing an estimated 50 million people worldwide.
Butler-Jones says the federal government is putting the finishing touches on a document that rates its performance during the pandemic.
He says that review will be ready in the next few weeks.
