Reply #94: Possible flu, probable flu, and never-ending malfeasance [View All]

[Dogmudgeon]

The current H5N1 Bird Flu might be a killer.

It might be a dud.

The public health problem remains.

Southern Asian countries don't have the money (Indonesia) or the infrastructure (China) to do proper biosurveillance, but that's where most of the influenza seems to develop. In the USA, our Wise and Courageous Leader would prefer to spend money on recreational wars. The pharmaceutical industry is loath to produce vaccine unless they are held harmless from ALL lawsuits. A similar, if somewhat less intransigent, situation holds in Europe.

In addition, given much larger human and animal populations, global warming, and factory-farming methods being used to breed poultry, the rate of mutation (it's now called polymorphism in medical literature if you ever want to do a Google or Medline search) has sped up tremendously.

Birds in nature don't spread viral material too fast, but a poultry factory may have 10,000 birds under one cramped roof, with sputum, feces, urine, skin dander, feathers, and other waste products getting spread around by all those frantic birds. This is a virus -- and bacteria -- breeding playground.

We seriously need to keep both things in mind -- the world has become incredibly dangerous largely as a result of our stupidity, AND the danger is being exploited by unscrupulous power-mongers like the Bush junta.

The cure for each is straightforward, but won't be easy. We need to reassert ourselves and dictate terms to our masters. No paranoia, no avoidable death-through-stupidity, no turning the Earth into a machine of mass pain and death. It's all of a piece, and we ought not tolerate another day of it.

--p!