We have reported on the outbreak of Avian flu in Asia in past posts (3/27/2005, 3/15/2005). The topic comes up every few days in news stories across. the web. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the announcement of a polio vaccine that turned the tide of a crippling epidemic of the 1950's. the occasion was marked by a a speech given by a Noble prize winning scientist who warned of the impending danger from another flu epidemic that could kill millions-up to 70 million or more humans in the near future.

Speaking in Lyon, France, Peter Doherty gave an ominous warning of what could come from Asia in the form of a deadly influenza epidemic.

"If it comes, it will probably come out of somewhere like south-east Asia and it will probably come very fast," he said. "It is highly lethal in birds, and in humans, when they catch it, it is something like 70% lethal. So it is very dangerous."

"We may duck the bullet. We may be lucky. But I think it is a reasonably high probability, because you have a lot of human flu," Prof Doherty said. "We will always have flu epidemics. Once the thing hits, we would deal with it extraordinarily well."

Read the whole article here . What is frightening is the selective process for administering the vaccine that has been developed. There is not enough for everyone. Only "key people" might receive the vaccine.

Here is another story on the danger to our modern world from disease epidemic.

The allusion to the four horseman of the apocalypse is very real. You can read about the ride of this fourth horseman in a past article I wrote for World News & Prophecy. God foretold the occurrence of disease epidemics as a sign of the time of the end.