Avian Flu: Be Afraid
Although bird flu is off topic for my blog, it could well develop into a pandemic that will severely disrupt our global economy. So I will write about it.
Here’s the best avian flu resources I’ve found. The mainstream media is doing a very poor job of informing us about the progress of this disease. It reminds me of the lack of meaningful coverage in the very early days of AIDS.
Please pay attention. Yes, this is a VERY dreary topic, and there’s little we can do as individuals. (But see this note in Freakonomics for some ideas.)
We can and should all encourage our governments to fund emergency levels of research, and radically ramp up vaccine production.
Bill and Melinda Gates, avian flu could become a world-shattering crisis. Please use your immense wealth to make a difference.
[tease from WHO site]
“Update on situation in Indonesia – 21 July 2005
“The Ministry of Health in Indonesia reported that a 38-year-old father who died on 12 July was the country’s first laboratory-confirmed H5N1 positive human case of avian influenza. His two daughters also died of severe pneumonia illness compatible with H5N1 infection, but laboratory confirmation is not yet available. Limited samples were available from the 8-year-old daughter who died on 14 July, and the 1-year-old daughter who died on 9 July.”
“Cambodia
“Avian Influenza in human, 2005
“To date there have been 4 laboratory confirmed cases officially reported. All 4 human cases of avian influenza infection in Cambodia have been fatal.
“VietNam
“Avian Influenza in human, 2005 (28 June Update)
“The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam confirmed an additional case of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza. The case occurred in the northern province of Ha Tay in May 2005
“This newly confirmed case brings the total, in Viet Nam, since mid-December 2004, to 60 cases, of which 18 were fatal. Since the beginning of the outbreak in December 2003, a total of 87 confirmed cases of human avian influenza A (H5N1) have been reported in Viet Nam, with 38 deaths.
[via Jon Louder
[see also Effect Measure: Bird Flu Maps]
[see also Marginal Reveolution]
[read this book! The Great Influenza]
[tease about The Great Influenza]
“From Publishers Weekly
“In 1918, a plague swept across the world virtually without warning, killing healthy young adults as well as vulnerable infants and the elderly. Hospitals and morgues were quickly overwhelmed; in Philadelphia, 4,597 people died in one week alone and bodies piled up on the streets to be carted off to mass graves.
[see also Slate: How To Make an Avian-Flu Vaccine]