As you know, I follow the progress of the coming flu pandemic. The rhetoric of late is interesting. Seems everyone is overusing the phrase "tipping point" in homage to Malcolm Gladwell's somewhat pointless book. The WHO cites that we are at the tipping point of the pandemic and that the only thing that will stop the pandemic is lots and lots of cash. "We are at a tipping point. If we do not do anything, the situation will worsen to the point that inevitably this virus will develop into a pandemic strain." Notice the word "inevitably" in that sentence.
The UN then chimed in and said that steps were needed to educate farmers. That they needed to separate their species and have more hygenically controlled slaughter spaces. Yeah right! Like that's going to happen. We're talking mostly about the 3rd world here. Even if more money makes it to Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, North Korea, South Korea and Japan it's doubtful that the money would trickle down and actually be spent educating farmers.
The current tally is 108 human infections resulting in 54 deaths (that's 50%).
As of July 5, 2005, there have been 108 human cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) in Vietnam (87), Thailand (17), and Cambodia (4) resulting in 54 deaths. According to the CDC, of particular note is one isolated instance of probable limited human-to-human transmission occurring in Thailand.
