Article

2004-10-28 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Russian Expert Says Flu Epidemic May Kill Over One Billion This Year

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Posted by Steve 2004-10-28 3:15:39 PM|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I think I'll go wash my hands now.

Posted by trailing wife 2004-10-28 3:48:16 PM|| 2004-10-28 3:48:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Didn't the Red Sox last win the WS in 1918? Hmm....

Posted by Seafarious 2004-10-28 3:50:06 PM|| 2004-10-28 3:50:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 "The expert called for the Russian authorities to prepare for the epidemic."

Good idea. Before the ground is frozen solid.

Posted by .com 2004-10-28 3:55:36 PM|| 2004-10-28 3:55:36 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 "The country will need a reserve of at least 300,000 hospital beds..."

Any guesses about what business enterprises Academician Lvov is into?

Posted by Matt 2004-10-28 4:45:17 PM|| 2004-10-28 4:45:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 I thought a lot of the deaths from the 1918 epidemic came from the fact that a LOT of soldiers were deployed in less-than-sanitary conditions, with less-than-adequate rations, and as a result had compromised immune systems.

Posted by Phil Fraering 2004-10-28 4:58:28 PM|| [http://newsfromthefridge.typepad.com] 2004-10-28 4:58:28 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 A knew a man (born 1900) horribly traumitized by the Spanish flu. Among the people he knew, he estimated that between one and two dozen had died. It was unique that the most susceptible group was of otherwise healthy young men, an odd demographic, who had also been severely culled by WWI and, in Europe, by the still undiagnosed "Brain Fever" epidemic, that killed tens of thousands and left many survivors violent paranoids. When the Spanish flu ended, there was a mass effort to forget it, relegating many of the dead to "non-person" status, and it was forbidden as a topic of conversation. This man, in the 1980s, still had severe emotional trauma from it.
Today, quietly, the US government has been in an utter panic about influenza since the mid-1970s, with the expectation of a lethal pandemic at any time (we are very past due for one, which seem to come in a cyclic fashion). President Ford was advised that the Swine Flu was characteristic, and even though the CDC had carte blanche to produce and distribute vaccine, it was unable to do so in time. Fortunately, the Swine Flu mutated to a less-harmful strain just before its arrival in the US. Since President Clinton, the ability of the US pharmaceutical industry to produce vaccine has severely declined. For updated information about influenza, see FLUSTAR at flustar.com

Posted by Anonymoose 2004-10-28 5:01:59 PM|| 2004-10-28 5:01:59 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 One billion, eh?
A curious number, just almost like the count of mooselimbs...

I have an idea... 'll be back.

Posted by Conanista 2004-10-28 5:23:13 PM|| 2004-10-28 5:23:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 One billion - that would tend to take a good chunk out of China. If this spreads like SARS then we should start seeing problems in China and Southeast Asia real soon.

I for one do not dismiss the Spanish Flu as an idle curiousity. It would be a tremendous biological weapon, and maybe the Russians have such a weapon tucked away in their storehouse of nasties.

Posted by Douglas De Bono 2004-10-28 6:05:44 PM|| [http://www.DouglasDeBono.com] 2004-10-28 6:05:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 He meant one billion chicken (Ã la Kiev).

Posted by Kalle (kafir forever) 2004-10-28 6:59:15 PM|| [http://radio.weblogs.com/0103811/categories/currentEvents/] 2004-10-28 6:59:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Kerry hasn't blamed this on Bush yet? What gives?

Posted by Raj 2004-10-28 9:36:01 PM|| 2004-10-28 9:36:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 So will this cure Global Warming?

Posted by tu3031 2004-10-28 10:55:02 PM|| 2004-10-28 10:55:02 PM|| Front Page Top