Agencies are always preparing for worst case scenarios, or at least they should be.
The threat of avian flu is real, but we don't know how or when it will get here, nor do we know what the effect will be.
The West Nile virus killed my uncle, but he's the only person I know of personally who has died from it.
As of April 28, 2008, worldwide, there have been 382 reported cases of bird flu in humans and of those cases 241 people have been reported to have
died. As with any pathogen for which their is no vaccine or cure, the possible repercussions could be dire, but they are not always inevitable.
www.who.int...
One thing is for sure. The morbidity rate is high and if the virus begins to spread from human to human, it could be devastating. It's just not yet
time for the average citizen to be screaming about government conspiracies for a problem that is still in its very early stages of development and
which is still half a world away.
[edit on 2008/5/5 by GradyPhilpott]