The Killer Flu

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The Killer Flu

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I have covered the avian flu in several posts over the recent months. President Bush mentioned the potential devastation from this virus last month in his address at the United Nations. Now, the latest issue of National Geographic has a cover story that gives a good overview to understand how this plague could mutate and jump to humans.

The epic Spanish Flu of 1918-1919, now known to have been an avian virus, swept the world and killed more than 50 million people. One fact I learned about that epidemic was that every human being on earth was exposed to the virus and half came down with the flu. If a more deadly virus mutates and spreads to humans we could see everyone exposed to the bug. We are far more mobile today than in 1918.

This article shows that a conference is being planned in the United States to discuss the H5N1 virus.

Scary stuff.