World Bank on Bird Flu

So often humans talk about how war kills so many needlessly, yet when we look at the viruses, plagues, diseases and pathogens of the World we see how few people war actually kills as a percentage of the whole. Did you know that in all the recorded written history of our nation only one-percent of the total number of our species, which have lived on the surface of this planet have actually perished in the fighting of a war? Interesting isn't it, especially considering the mass media's obsession with the war in Iraq.

It seems whenever there is not something really interesting in the news such as OJ, Scott Peterson, Hurricane Katrina or Supreme Court nominations we are fixated on the war. Yet wars are nothing compared to what the World Health Organization is warning us against now. David Nabarro spoke recently at a meeting with the World Bank and told them that it is quite possible that a global flu pandemic will kill up to 150 million people. Kind of outs our worries about wars to shame doesn't it? Do you know how many people 150 million is? That is greater than the population of Mexico, which is the fifth largest country in the World.

Currently Bird Flu is affecting ten nations, but is limited due to its inability to be passed from human to human, but this could change with a small evolving change of the bird flu virus and that is bound to happen eventually. Some scientists wonder why it hasn't yet and admit we maybe on borrowed time. If bird flu moves to pigs and infects their respiratory systems it could easily enter the human population and it would spread as fast as the fastest flu type viruses and across the planet, taking out the weakest amongst us. This is serious and the World Bank knows it.

The question is; can the impoverished nations deflect the possible eventuality of such a catastrophic virus and can they afford to vaccine their populations to prevent its spread once it starts? And if money is lent to help them, will they be able to pay it back or will we do another round of debt relief? These may not seem like big issues, but when the Bird Flu enters the human populations, which it will they say, well, it will be too late then to be discussing these things as millions die each week. Think on that.