>>We need to take this threat very seriously.<<
Not yet I don't. Life is too short to worry about every little thing. And based on the numbers so far, this is a LITTLE thing. Especially if you live in, say, the US.
It is a sirenity prayer thing.
I literally don't even think about this bird flu thing except when I see the headlines in Freerepublic. This has already given me a "happier" last two years than those who were worried about it.
Don't get me wrong. If my job was to find a cure or otherwise control it, I would take it VERY seriously.
I totally agree with RE, even if for possibly different reasons.
Avian Influenza is ALWAYS a threat to the poultry industry. Even if were to never seriously threaten with a bird to human to human to human strain, a serious outbreak within the poultry industry could have devastating economic consequences.
Entire flocks of birds are destroyed if even one tests positive for AI on a farm. The average commercial chicken house holds 30,000 - 35,000 birds. the farm across from me has 5 houses. The owner of that farm also has another 2 locations for a total of 17 chicken houses. If just one bird in any of those 17 houses is found to have AI, every bird in ALL 17 houses will be destroyed and all 3 locations will we totally quarantined. If they are newly delivered baby birds, the cost per house is around $9,000, which goes up as the birds get older and are closer to market size.
That is just 1 farmer in this one county.......a county where the number 1 private employer is the poultry industry. Economically the threat of AI is taken very seriously in these parts.