5/27/12

Avian Flue Update


The possibility that Bird flu could become a pandemic with far more lethality than the 1918 flu epidemic that killed about 20 million people apparently still concerns world biological scientists, defense analysts and politicians. Version A of H5N1 evidently has something greater than a 50% fatality rate for humans as they have no natural immunity.
Having overcome the ethical challenge of publishing information critical for weaponizing the virus as an aerosol so easy lung to lung infection routes are available earlier this year, biological labs in concerned areas are working to produce immunology concoctions to be ready for any sort of future outbreak of H5N1 Type A.
The practical ethical and security challenges of allowing all of the worlds bio research labs to obtain the virus and work on find defenses against arises because any of those labs might have covert activists that would seek to release the virus intentionally in a lethal form. With world aircraft routes one lab might send one air-breathing researcher globally to quickly infect most nations. Additionally some klutz in a biolab might accidentally infect him,her or transgender uncertain self and send the H5N1 type A virus boldly into the social world where no virus has gone before.
On the other hand, the vast galaxy of biolabs may produce a vaccine for H5N1 quickly making the pandemic point moot and an amusing historical incident of over-worry.
Scientific American's June 2012 issue has an article on the subject of Avian flu that goes over the main points.
Of 565 people infected with H5N1 since 2003, the number that died was 331 and up.
Like the H.I.V. virus, modern transportation structures have enabled the acceleration of  infectious disease virus' globally as well as providing modern counter-measures. In the quickening world of mass social communications and viral transmissions the opportunities for disinformation, government paradigm error, viral multiplication and media of existential menace form temporal critical mass structures appearing swiftly like gales arising on the ocean.

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