Bird flu update....

Given the mainstream media's ADHD, bird flu has pretty much dropped off the radar--and TV--screens.

Too bad the virus hasn't disappeared likewise.

In the first six months of 2006 the number of countries detecting infected birds has doubled. Case fatality remains extraordinarily high. And limited human to human transmission, with at least one moderately large cluster is becoming more evident. WHO continues to say most human infections come from poultry, although the evidence for this is not conclusive. Many cases have scant or no history. The feared easy person to person transmission has yet to occur, but the virus is not standing still. It continues to change genetically and move into wider and more varied niches. Sixty countries are said to be affected.

Southeast asia [sic] is said to have made progress controlling the disease and transmission to humans by aggressive programs of culling and vaccination, although the verdict is still out on whether this has truly worked. But meanwhile China, Indonesia and Africa struggle with their veterinary services and the hope of stamping out or controlling the spread in these places is slim. Too many birds, too wide an area, too little resources and public recognition of the problem. The virus is becoming endemic in a variety of bird species in large areas of the globe and is unlikely to go away soon.

[snip]

So it's mid July, now. Soon we will be moving into the northern hemisphere's colder months and "flu season." Most observers believe bird flu will also pick up speed.

Which is bad news, because it's already traveling awfully fast.

Effect Measure's bloggers, one of whom wrote the above, are all senior public health scientists and practitioners. Which lends credence to their concerns.

I'll confess, I'm the paranoid type. But what harm can it do to stock up on enough canned beans and rice, say, to get you through a couple weeks?

Full post here.