New flu pandemic could kill 81 million
Despite the tens of millions of deaths the 1918 flu caused, the death rate among those infected was approximately 2 percent. The fatality rate for the H5N1 virus is about 60 percent.
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Still, there is no guarantee that H5N1 would become less deadly.
If it doesn't, "we would be in for a devastating impact," said Gust. "All bets would be off." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061222/ap_on_he_me/flu_pandemic
There are scientists who are scared of a flu epdemic, they say that with the world wide travel, it would spread like wildfire.