Flu Pandemic Coming?

Feb 21, 2005

Usually, these stories garner only a “whatever” from me. Not sure why this one has me thinking about my kids and parents and wife. It does. Avian flu outbreaks in Vietnam bird populations threaten to spread across the world. This could be the worst pandemic since 1918. Worse than that even, since 72% of those diagnosed with this nasty virus – die.

The H5N1 avian flu, which first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997 and has since popped up twice, is evolving and can jump directly from birds to people, killing an estimated 72 percent of diagnosed victims, Gerberding said. Officials have documented 45 deaths so far from avian flu.

Keep your fingers crossed. Apparently there’s no way to head it off with vaccines. Meanwhile, most of the US is worried about small pox.

Link by Drudge