Doom's Day Flu

Photo: Spanish Flu Victims - Soldiers in Prime of Life

How the Avian Flu might effect you:

1. You might die.
2. Someone you love might die.
3. Half the people you know may die.
4. Half the people you work with might die.
5. Half the people in your community might die.
6. Half the people in your nation may die.
7. Half the people on the planet might die.

Having said this you might feel that it just can't happen. You believe that in this modern world that someone, or something will stop the Avian Flu virus from mutating, or from spreading once it does.

Think again.

Do you recall hurricane Katrina? No one could stop hurricane Katrina, and there's little likelihood that anyone will stop the avian flu from mutating. Asia simply lacks the willpower, and resources to stop the Avian Flu from spreading.

When it became clear that hurricane Katrina would make landfall there was little that people could do but run. When it became clear that running was the only thing to do not everyone was able to run in time. There's no way to run from a virus in this global community.

If any nation, especially the United States attempted to isolate itself from the rest of the global community in order to protect itself from an Avian Flu pandemic those efforts will most likely come when it is already too late.

Look how little will exist to stop the millions of illegal immigrants flooding into the U.S. because of the thirst for cheap labor. Which politician will stand up first to propose a quarantine of our major asian trading partners?

It won't happen until it is already too late.

The United States is just a few hours away by jet from any nation, and the possibility that the U.S. Government would preemptively impose a quarantine, or even curtail air travel to and from Asia is unthinkable. It just won't happen.

Therefore if the Avian Flu mutates into a people-to-people transmitted virus, which it is likely to do, then it will reach the U.S.

Once it reaches the U.S., then what?

The virus is contagious even before people show symptoms, which means there won't be a way to know if you're contaminated, and are spreading the virus to others. The virus will spread quickly.

The virus is very lethal. The human body doesn't have any prior experience with this virus, and therefore no immunity to it. It has killed half of those who have caught it from contact with contaminated birds.

It doesn't just kill the old, sick, or weak like ordinary flu, it kills younger people - similar to the Spanish Flu.

The United States will not be uneffected. Hundred's of thousands of U.S. citzens may die before marshall law is imposed. The world economy may collapse when world trade is curtailed due to the pandemic.

There isn't a vacine, nor any known treatments, although Tamiflu may help. Even if there was a treatment there simply isn't enough for everyone, even in the richer nations.

This leaves us all very vunerable.

If any of us learned anything from Katrina that was not to trust our government to be able to save us in a crises.

If this pandemic becomes real, and ever hits the U.S., we're all in grave trouble.
In the meantime I'm dusting off my copy of The Stand to get a few pointers.

I include several Spanish Flu pandemic (1912-1918) links below. Unfortunately, the Spanish Flu pandemic may provide an accurate analogy to what may happen soon once the Avian Flu mutates. Hundreds of thousands of americans died in the Spanish Flu pandemic.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/

http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum