" I've been worried about this thing for many many months '
CNN had on an epidemiologist from the CDC this afternoon.
He said the world is due for a pandemic-not, if, but, when.
Nobody knows when-next week, next year, 10 years from now.
The genesis will most likely be the avian flu mutating.
The flu would take about 12 to 16 months to run it's course. Millions would die worldwide , almost 2 million in US.
He thought that the best use of the military would be for supply logistics and not quarantine.
Most people would probably self quarantine out of fear.
His scenario was sobering- not enough hospital beds, vents or health care workers, corpses left in the streets, economy at a standstill, food and medicine in short supply, etc.
The Spanish Flu took mostly young, healthy people-fine in the morning, dead by night fall from a fulminating pneumonia.
The epidemiology community is extremely concerned about this.
From Wikipedia :
"The social effects were intense due to the speed of the epidemic. AIDS killed 25 million in its first 25 years, but the Spanish flu may have killed as many in only 25 weeks beginning in September 1918."
I agree with your post. Should it hit here, full blown, our economy will crash. No one will venture outside without a hazmat suit.