Flying Flu, Meet Walking Flu

Bush Administration should do something about this...

Warning on flu pandemic Ian Sample, science correspondent Thursday September 23, 2004 The Guardian A new superstrain of the flu virus capable of triggering a global pandemic could emerge from east Asia, health officials have warned. Scientists working for the World Health Organisation fear that the arrival of the flu season in Asian countries could see the human flu virus merge with a lethal strain of bird flu that is already in circulation, producing a more deadly flu virus that could rapidly infect humans, leading to a global outbreak. Recent cases of flu in Thailand have been reported in areas already struggling to control the spread of bird flu, a virus that mostly affects poultry, but has claimed the lives of at least four people in recent months. Health officials warn that people living in regions where the viruses are circulating could catch both at once, raising the prospect of a new and highly virulent form of human flu emerging. "The reality is that if these two viruses meet, they will exchange genetic information and a new virus could emerge that's as pathogenic as the bird flu virus, but as infectious as human flu. It's a real scenario for the emergence of a pandemic," Klaus Stöhr, head of the WHO's influenza programme, told the Guardian....

We keep hearing warnings similar to this, year after year it seems. Should we take this one any more seriously?