| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| White House Publishes Avian Flu Pandemic Strategy |
| 2007-07-17 |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 The avian flu is truly special, and we have been very fortunate, oddly enough, for it to have come about after 9-11, when the momentum for the WoT allowed the threat to piggyback on the heightened concerns for terrorism. The international medical network has broken through even the harshest barriers, even in North Korea, the doctors have persuaded the leaders that this is the one threat they cannot ignore and must respond to immediately. And George Bush was wise enough to listen as well. In past, especially during the Ford administration, congress also acted without debate in giving an enormous appropriation to the CDC to combat the Swine flu. In retrospect, what they did would have made little difference--too little, too late. The US was saved because the virus mutated again before it hit our shores, to a much less virulent strain. But the damage from the Swine flu, at its worst, is only a fraction of what the Avian flu might do. Even the 100 Million dead from Spanish flu was far less lethal than the Avian flu. Perhaps only a 20% mortality rate compared to a more than 50% rate. It is almost unimaginable that half the people who get Avian flu could die, with a large percentage of the rest having severely damaged lungs for the rest of their lives. But in the US, especially, we can and will fight it at every level. We will still lose one hell of a lot of people. In the worst possible scenario as many as 10% of our population, or 30 million. But if that is the case, deaths in the rest of the world could be greater than a billion. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-17 22:45 |
| #1 It sounds impressive. What's your read on this, Anonymoose? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-17 20:44 |