Bird Flu

I just read an article about it. They're saying there's no way to prevent a pandemic.

No way are they going to block travelers, and it's probably too late anyway.

So for now, we just sit tight and see what WHO, the CDC, and other health ministries around the world come up with.

In the famous words of Doug Adams: "Don't Panic."

It's really frightening to think that we could have a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic. I've heard stories of women playing bridge in the afternoon who were dead by evening. It wiped out entire families. I've heard that it's not if, but when something like this happens again. Apparently, the really deadly strains occur when human flu mixes with bird and swine flu. Some of the Hong Kong outbreaks were the result of humans getting flu strains that only birds should get. It's SCARY!

As a very young soldier, newly arrived in Japan in the winter of 1946, as part of the US Army Occupation Forces I was on a troop train slowly pulling in to Yokahama Station and observed hundreds of people wearing surgical masks. My first impression was that we were in an area of a large medical center. I then learned that it was the custom in Japan for the general population to wear surgical masks during the winter to reduce the transmission of colds and upper respiratory infections.

In the event of a flu pandemic it might not be a bad idea for Americans to adopt the same practice. Just don't wear it when going into a bank!