[exDemMom]

Now, extrapolate that forward to 2012, with ubiquitous air travel connecting all parts of the globe, and a much larger population, concentrated in much larger cities. A new pandemic would spread faster, and could potentially kill hundreds of millions, or even billions of people.

We were very lucky with the 2009 pandemic, in that it was a fairly mild virus and "only" about half a million people died. A flu as virulent as the 1918 flu would have been devastating.

[Black Agnes]

Funny thing that number. I can go to the CDC website and find *exactly* how many people in MY county contracted West Nile Virus last year. And exactly how many died. Strangely, I can NOT pull that information for any flu death of any kind.