www.madison.com...
Avian flu looms as new pandemic with a high mortality rate
By Aaron Nathans
November 26, 2004
Early on a recent Friday morning, doctors from around the area gathered at a Meriter Hospital lecture hall to hear Dennis Maki talk about the flu. The
top University of Wisconsin immunologist had plenty to say about the nation's vaccine shortage.
But, as bad as the situation was, that was not his biggest concern.
Maki, head of the infectious disease division at UW Hospital, said he was more worried about the approximately 43 cases of H5N1 influenza that had
been diagnosed in humans in Southeast Asia. The strain began in Korea in late 2003, and spread to eight Asian countries......
......Reich said it was much more likely the United States will experience an epidemic of deadly flu than a nuclear attack by North Korea, or a
terrorist attack that kills millions.
G. Richard Olds, chairman of the department of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, emphasized that the H5N1 strain is not
generally transmitted from person to person. But, in general, from an infectious disease standpoint, "We have more to worry about from Mother Nature
than we do from al-Qaida."
"With terrorists, we can predict what they can do. Mother Nature is very unpredictable," Olds said.............
[edit on 26-11-2004 by niman]
