Posted by Mike on December 28th, 2007 in biology

Well I thought that I would show that I am finally recovering from the grandchildren induced flu by restarting this blog…. on the timely subject of bird flu. It looks like this thing is finally gathering some momentum, and this is not a good thing.

If you go to the link, down the right side of the PhysOrg website are currently listed recent articles on the human to human transmission of the H5N1 strain. Last year everyone was watching for this mutation. Now, it has happened true to prediction. Indeed, if you examine even this smattering of evidence, it seems hard to imagine a scenario in which this will not pick up steam to become something really bad. Human to human, killing the young over the old; these are right down the predicted alley.

One of my childhood friends is public information officer for a small Midwest college. Last year they were required to develop a “Bird Flu Disaster Plan” by the CDC or some other government group. He was in charge, and developed a serious case of the willy’s from being shown the worst case. The numbers are staggering: 200 million dead, worldwide, 50 million in the US. And the epicenter of the outbreak will be among the concentrated groups of 18 -25 year olds. Yep, colleges could be the central breeding grounds of this pandemic.

So when and if this plays out, avoid at all costs college towns and large concentrations of young people. Mind you, that will not help much, for as my friend says “…at the first sign of trouble, we are sending them ALL home, and this is the plan for EVERY college and university in the country…” . Imagine that movement. My little grandkid induced flu seems minor, now that I think of it.

http://www.physorg.com/news118036343.html