Prepared for Flu Pandemic?

The flu pandemic of 1918 (aka The Spanish Flu) wiped out upwards of 50 million people worldwide. Alfred W. Crosby, author of "American's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918," said that it "killed more humans than any other disease in a similar duration in the history of the world."

Now, the NYT reports, after a decade of painstaking research analyzing tissue samples from flu victims preserved in the Alaskan tundra and an army pathology warehouse, scientists have discovered that the 1918 killer flu virus was a type of avian flu, which jumps from infected birds to humans.

The recent bird flu outbreak which has been raising concerns, particularly throughout Asia, has, so far, been restricted primarily to bird-to-human transmission. The fear is that the flu will transform (as flu viruses tend to do) and become highly infectious between people, like the 1918 flu which decimated millions.

Are we ready? not yet, but the administration is getting around to it.

"Bush administration officials have been talking about pandemic flu preparedness for years, and they say they will soon release a pandemic flu plan, in the works for more than a year. Senate Democrats say that the administration is not doing enough, and they are writing their own bills that call for more spending and coordination."

Get it together, guys. Less talk, more action, more vaccines, and a smart, efficient, distribution plan. Please don't hire cronies for this job, OK?

Call your congressional rep to let him/her know you are very aware and deeply concerned about this disaster waiting to happen. Squeaky wheels, do your thing!