Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Avian Flu

Yesterday I got a flu shot at the local Publix, since I don't trust my doctor's office getting the vaccine on time. Usually, his office gets it a month later than everybody, and last year, they didn't have it at all. This shot, however, is only against the regular flu, not the one threatening the world's health by passing from live poultry to humans and mutating in the process to become a killer disease. If there will be a plague of the modern times, this will be it.
The worst thing is, in the US, we are not ready for it. In the beginning, when this news was blown open, I didn't pay much attention to it. Yesterday, however, I watched on TV, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt telling the reporters that he lost sleep at nights over what might happen.
Accordingly, there is only one company in France that manufactures the avian flu vaccine. They are overloaded with all the requests and the USA is not even on line with a request. Since vaccine development is costly without monetary gain and there are too many malpractice suits against the companies, nobody wants to develop the vaccine. Very humanitarian those companies, aren't they!
Worst yet, a pandemic flu outbreak would likely reach the US within a few months or even weeks.
The Secretary of Health, regarding this problem, said, it is not a matter of if but when. So far, H5N1 avian influenza virus has killed millions of birds across Asia and infected 116 people, killing 60.
Even if the spread of the flu would last only a few months, it will likely kill millions.
I am not really anxious about it, at least not yet. Probably because I am inside the initial disbelief period with the "Is this really happening? No, it can't be happening" mentality. Yet, the idea of not being prepared, hurts my American pride, as it did when we lost the city of New Orleans to hurricane Katrina and flood waters because the officials were dumb enough not to listen to the Army Corps of Engineers, when for several years before and ever since, they were alerted to the condition of the levees.