BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Fears mount over Asian bird flu —
Officials stress it was an isolated case, and the WHO said it “would not pose a significant public health risk”.
But a case of human-to-human infection would raise fears that bird flu could combine with human flu, to create a more deadly version of the disease.
30-40 Million people were killed the last time one of these flu viruses racketed.
During the 1918-1919 fall period the number of Americans who died from influenza is estimated at 675,000. Of those, almost 200,000 deaths were recorded in the month of October 1918 alone. Worldwide, the mortality figure for the full pandemic is believed to stand somewhere between 30 to 40 million. So, with the world population today having more than tripled in the intervening years, what is to stop a modern flu pandemic from claiming upwards of 100 million lives? The answer, it seems, is nothing at all.
Remember, as well, they traced back the route of that “Great War” pandemic to a farm boy walking into boot camp and ending up overseas before his symptoms carried through to their logical, terrible end. If a slow-developing ailment got started in today’s transportation mix, the numbers could be shattering.