Bird Fl

I've become really interested in this whole pandemic thing lately, probably because I remember other bird flu epidemics. I remember my mother and I having the "Hong-Kong flu" back in the sixties. I recall discussions of the impact of the 1918 pandemic. My great-aunt Annastasia Curtin died as a result of it in Buffalo NY, as did many poor irish. According to the stories it left many, many orphans in its wake. I was trying to think why. It seems like young adults would have been healthier, so why so many orphans. But check out the link below on the 1918 pandemic and you'll find mention that many working age adults died from it, more so than the old and young.

Recent stories in the NY Times indicate that bird infections have spread to Romania and Turkey. Which has led to the EU banning poultry imports from Turkey. I wonder if that includes Turkeys from Turkey? It seems rather futile, given that wild birds are winging their way blithely over borders.

One thing that has been playing in my mind are the alternative futures impact that a pandemic can hold. Preparations for a real pandemic are of course foremost on people and politicians minds, but its interesting to consider the not so invisible hand of the grim reaper. As I write in the coming stories, I'll be speculate as a futurist and as a public policy analyst on what could happen depending on the demographics of the disease profile.

Some other articles include:

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Bird flu virus: What you need to know
Scientists warn of possibility of drug-resistant avian flu
Colombia Finds First Cases of Bird Flu
Bird flu ‘doesn’t apply for a visa to go travel’