[mosquitobite]

Or induce us to prepare. I mean, we saw what happened in Katrina. Are you going to wait for the government to bring you supplies if they quarantine & house bound us?

[PositiveCogins]

"While there have been no known cases of person-to-person transmission, World
Health Organization officials and other experts have been warning that the virus could
mutate into a form that spreads easily among people. In a worst-case scenario, millions
could die. "

millions could die. Out of a world population oh what 6 billion. Assuming that's world wide and not the US. Also assuming that most of the death would be in impoverished and developing countries I would estimate about 300 deaths in the US. Of course that would be over the normal deaths caused by the normal flu.

[DMinus]

i'm pretty torn between being a silly alarmist and having some deep concern about the prospects of this... while the alarmists have been wrong lots of times before on outbreaks, this one seems pretty real.... so in other words, not sure what to think of it yet.

but if a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound? especially when we're busy arguing about harriet miers, et al? the number of posts here about this topic tells me just how much we could care less about this (possibly) impending disaster.

[PositiveCogins]

"Whether or not H5N1 is the virus that will ultimately trigger such a pandemic is
unknown to us," he said at a news conference. "The probability is uncertain. But the
warning signs are troubling. Hence we are responding in a robust way."
It aint no flu thats gona kick our ass'. It's going to be something with a long incubation period, airborne and a low survival rate. Something thats hits with no warning. On the other hand there's no telling what this bug (H5N1) may
mutate into if someone's tampering with it. I seem to recall an article that stated China were treating poultry with our latest antibiotics.

[Misterioso]

What preparations can be made?