Yahoo! News - Official: Bird Flu Pandemic Is Imminent
Yahoo! News - Official: Bird Flu Pandemic Is Imminent

Again, there's obviously reason to be concerned, but this hasn't developed a reliable or potent human-to-human spread mechanism. My gut tells me that the mutation it will take for that to happen isn't trivial, and that there's no certainty it will retain its potency in the process.

Mama Nomad points the 76% mortality rate. That definitely raises my eyebrows. But, it seems to me that ebola has a higher mortality rate, and already spreads human-to-human (albeit with decreasing potency as it proceeds from generation to generation). Meaning, to me, that, as a pathogen, it's a greater threat; the difference being that it's been (so far) relegated to remote regions, and so not subject to the rapid air-travel spread that would be likely in the event of the avian flu, due to its being located in heavily populated and well-traveled areas.

The usual disclaimer: I'm talking mostly out of my rump here. I know very little about epidemics and contageous diseases in general that the average Joe doesn't know. I'm simply a bit suspect when officials from large, multinational bureaucracies start raising the alarm; as often as not, there are ulterior motivations at play (financial, political), and I just don't have a lot of confidence in the competency of personnel at these large international agencies.

Anyhow, it's making headlines. Interesting to follow... - served up by Nomad @ 12:06 PM