> Dana wrote: > I have heard speculation that the impending flu pandemic is a creature of > Rumsfeld's stock portfolio.
No. There's a few mutations a virus has to cross to become a pandemic: 1.) Bird to bird. 2.) Bird to other creatures (humans). 3.) Human to human. Once it hits level 3 you have a pandemic such as the 1918 flu. Recently in Thailand the virus was able to get to level 2, birds to humans. At first the vector was a mystery because no/few bird farmers became sick. Then a CDC doctor on-scene noticed that it was mainly children (~7) that we getting ill. Upon further investigation he discovered that part of their culture was for kids to pluck the chickens every family owns, usually a bloody process. They spend millions on advertising to tell people to cull their chickens and warning them of the danger. For now it seems to have worked. If a stage 2 virus like that is allowed to propagate, the odds of the stage 3 mutation grow exponentially and shutting down borders probably won't help as migratory birds will spread it between continents. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:180039 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
