The Tao of Bird Flu
21. Every new case of suspected bird flu is loudly reported in the media. This says more about the media than it says about bird flu.
Bird Flu Notes
The people of the United Kingdom seem worried that bird flu will arrive in their country soon, but the truth of the matter seems to be that H5N1 originated in the UK to begin with, not in China as has often been supposed. It first showed up in Scotland in 1959 and then in England in 1991. I’m not sure what to do with that piece of information. I don’t think there is anything to conclude from that really except perhaps just that bird flu happens. In any event, if H5N1 “arrives” in the UK anytime soon, I guess it will just be returning home.
Malaysia had been “disease free” for more than a year. Of course that all ended when forty chickens died in that country last week. This is one reason why I take the story yesterday about Vietnam being disease free with a grain of salt.
China seems to be doing a lot now to prevent the spread of bird flu, banning imports from stricken countries, etc. I wonder if they were this conscientious about banning exports when bird flu was raging in China.
Why worry about bird flu? 6600 Africans die of AIDS every day. 3000 die of malaria, and 24,000 die of hunger. Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
Tags: bird flu, avian flu, pandemic, H5N1, flu, influenza, health, politics,
21. Every new case of suspected bird flu is loudly reported in the media. This says more about the media than it says about bird flu.
Bird Flu Notes
The people of the United Kingdom seem worried that bird flu will arrive in their country soon, but the truth of the matter seems to be that H5N1 originated in the UK to begin with, not in China as has often been supposed. It first showed up in Scotland in 1959 and then in England in 1991. I’m not sure what to do with that piece of information. I don’t think there is anything to conclude from that really except perhaps just that bird flu happens. In any event, if H5N1 “arrives” in the UK anytime soon, I guess it will just be returning home.
Malaysia had been “disease free” for more than a year. Of course that all ended when forty chickens died in that country last week. This is one reason why I take the story yesterday about Vietnam being disease free with a grain of salt.
China seems to be doing a lot now to prevent the spread of bird flu, banning imports from stricken countries, etc. I wonder if they were this conscientious about banning exports when bird flu was raging in China.
Why worry about bird flu? 6600 Africans die of AIDS every day. 3000 die of malaria, and 24,000 die of hunger. Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
Tags: bird flu, avian flu, pandemic, H5N1, flu, influenza, health, politics,
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posted by Ed Bremson, MFA @ 8:32 AM
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