The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Avian Flu Update: ABC News has some dire projections
The Avian flu story we covered the other day is not going away (via Protein Wisdom):
From ABC News:
The United Nations has begun a worldwide drive to counter the threat of a global flu pandemic. The U.N.’s new avian flu czar, Dr. David Nabarro, will head up the drive to contain the disease and prepare for its possible jump to humans.
The avian flu virus is spread by chickens, ducks and other birds and has been a problem in Southeast Asia for several years, killing at least 65 people in four Asian countries since 2003. With strains of the virus found in humans, there has been growing concern among U.S. officials about the possibility of a pandemic.
[...]
Nabarro said he was “certain” that there will be a flu pandemic sometime soon – and that the range of deaths could be anywhere from 5 million to 150 million. He said it was up to the world whether “the next pandemic leads us in the direction of 150 million deaths or in the direction of 5 million deaths.”
[...]
Nabarro said he had been invited to the State Department to participate in the avian flu initiative announced by President Bush two weeks ago. He said Bush’s initiative will be a huge success if it can help give all the world’s governments the political will to take the necessary steps ahead of a pandemic.
President Bush has announced an international partnership aimed at preventing an avian flu pandemic. The initiative is geared to increase global communication on the flu, with an emphasis on countries that face outbreaks sharing details and providing samples to the World Health Organization. The U.S. also plans to hold strategic international talks to plan against flu pandemic.
[...]
Nabarro said the nightmare scenario would occur if a pandemic began in a refugee community: “If an outbreak starts in Khartoum, or in Darfur – if it was in refugee communities, we would be seeing something cataclysmic for humanity. Nightmare scenario: pandemic takes root in the least well-served and perhaps most crowded areas."
And the worst part? No chicken soup.
From ABC News:
The United Nations has begun a worldwide drive to counter the threat of a global flu pandemic. The U.N.’s new avian flu czar, Dr. David Nabarro, will head up the drive to contain the disease and prepare for its possible jump to humans.
The avian flu virus is spread by chickens, ducks and other birds and has been a problem in Southeast Asia for several years, killing at least 65 people in four Asian countries since 2003. With strains of the virus found in humans, there has been growing concern among U.S. officials about the possibility of a pandemic.
[...]
Nabarro said he was “certain” that there will be a flu pandemic sometime soon – and that the range of deaths could be anywhere from 5 million to 150 million. He said it was up to the world whether “the next pandemic leads us in the direction of 150 million deaths or in the direction of 5 million deaths.”
[...]
Nabarro said he had been invited to the State Department to participate in the avian flu initiative announced by President Bush two weeks ago. He said Bush’s initiative will be a huge success if it can help give all the world’s governments the political will to take the necessary steps ahead of a pandemic.
President Bush has announced an international partnership aimed at preventing an avian flu pandemic. The initiative is geared to increase global communication on the flu, with an emphasis on countries that face outbreaks sharing details and providing samples to the World Health Organization. The U.S. also plans to hold strategic international talks to plan against flu pandemic.
[...]
Nabarro said the nightmare scenario would occur if a pandemic began in a refugee community: “If an outbreak starts in Khartoum, or in Darfur – if it was in refugee communities, we would be seeing something cataclysmic for humanity. Nightmare scenario: pandemic takes root in the least well-served and perhaps most crowded areas."
And the worst part? No chicken soup.
