I've
been following this potential nightmare for the last year. The CDC head
was in Washington last week testifying on this. The US is finally starting to
take steps.. It's a scary thought. Most people know nothing about this. I was
telling my wife and a guy at work about the last one from the 20th century and
they'd never heard of it. As I painted the bleak picture, they were amazed.
Maybe the media needs to get involved and make this newsworthy, as so often
happens, so the public can get up in arms about it the way they did about the
shortage of flu vaccines last year.
For
those who don't know about the terrible last worldwide epidemic,
read below. And then, as Delenn said to Sheridan when she told him about
the Shadows "Be prepared to never sleep well again..."
The Influenza
Pandemic of 1918: The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more
people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere
between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating
epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single
year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351.
Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global
disaster. In the fall of 1918 the Great War in Europe
was winding down and peace was on the horizon. The Americans had joined in the
fight, bringing the Allies closer to victory against the Germans. Deep within
the trenches these men lived through some of the most brutal conditions of life,
which it seemed could not be any worse. Then, in pockets across the globe,
something erupted that seemed as benign as the common cold. The influenza of
that season, however, was far more than a cold. In the two years that this
scourge ravaged the earth, a fifth of the world's population was infected. The
flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40. This pattern of morbidity was
unusual for influenza which is usually a killer of the elderly and young
children. It infected 28% of all Americans (Tice). An estimated 675,000
Americans died of influenza during the pandemic, ten times as many as in the
world war. Of the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, half of them fell to the
influenza virus and not to the enemy (Deseret News). An estimated 43,000
servicemen mobilized for WWI died of influenza (Crosby). 1918 would go down as
unforgettable year of suffering and death and yet of
peace...
-----Original Message-----
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Amy Harlib
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 17:53
To: Mike Sargent
Subject: [scifinoir2] Fw: World leaders ignoring deadly flu threat, experts say: World Science
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Amy Harlib
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 17:53
To: Mike Sargent
Subject: [scifinoir2] Fw: World leaders ignoring deadly flu threat, experts say: World Science
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Eternally interesting to the max!
Subject: World leaders ignoring deadly flu threat, experts say: World
Science
* World leaders ignoring deadly flu threat, experts
warn:
A bird flu pandemic could kill more than 7 million
people and devastate the world economy in the next
few years, scientists say.
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050526_flufrm.htm
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