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poemless:
I haven't heard much about bird flu in America, so I guess I've not given it any thought.
But there was a global scare a few years ago and the US government stockpiled tamiflu and vaccines in preparation for a bird flu pandemic that never came.

Bird flu, by the way, is still infecting humans...

WHO | Avian influenza

WHO is coordinating the global response to human cases of H5N1 avian influenza and monitoring the corresponding threat of an influenza pandemic. Information on this page tracks the evolving situation and provides access to both technical guidelines and information useful for the general public.


Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Apr 27th, 2009 at 12:22:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, the swine flu came.

"Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms." -Dostoevsky
by poemless on Mon Apr 27th, 2009 at 12:22:50 PM EST
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the US government stockpiled tamiflu and vaccines in preparation for a bird flu pandemic that never came.

I remember considerable speculation that all of the flu scares at the turn of the millennium were ginned up by Roche to encourage sales of their market leading drug (Tamiflu) before it went out of copyright.

It has gone quiet on the flu front for a few years really, compared to the endless hype back then, and now we're getting something that might be a genuine problem. Roche must be distraught they can't clean up cos it's out of copyright now.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 27th, 2009 at 12:38:30 PM EST
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Wouldn't the following be fun?

Concern swine flu may be Tamiflu resistant | Otago Daily Times Online

Two New Zealanders expert in genetic shifts and mutations of influenza strains say there is a risk that the swine flu virus spreading out of Mexico may acquire resistance to Tamiflu.


Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Apr 27th, 2009 at 12:41:14 PM EST
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They are developing a vaccine for it as we speak...

"Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms." -Dostoevsky
by poemless on Mon Apr 27th, 2009 at 12:47:32 PM EST
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I think the health professionals are so scared of the possibility of an avian flu epidemic that they are consciously staying quiet about it. The WHO articles on this topic are quite scary...
by asdf on Mon Apr 27th, 2009 at 11:21:39 PM EST
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