What is up with Avian Flu?

[SlipperySlope]

What is up with the Avian Flu situation?

It seems that there are two opinions posted here.

Some think that the whole thing is just another trumped-up scare tactic by the Administration to distract the American people from the real issues.

Others think instead it is a real threat, but the the Administration is once again demonstrating their incompetence at preparing for it.

Which is it? Is this all hype, or is there yet another opportunity for Bush&Co to screw the pooch?

[SaveElmer]

1. Not hype...not an imminent problem...

It is a potential problem that must be dealt with, but currently is not a serious threat to human health. Actually the World Health Organization is doing a pretty good job of keeping up with it, and aiding countries who find it within their borders. Turkey for example, after the outbreaks last month, have effectively culled their flocks, and have not had an outbreak in almost a month. It was currently discovered in Iraq and Nigeria, but very limited so far.

[gkhouston]

2. I wouldn't put it past BushCo to try to use bird flu as a scare tactic

for their own bad purposes but the potential health threat is genuine, and serious. So far, there have been only a handful of cases in humans and it hasn't been too bad, largely because of massive culling efforts (killing off vast quantities of domestic poultry when diseased/dead birds are found). Bird flu is slowly spreading, though, and is endemic to some varieties of waterfowl. It will eventually reach North America. Whether it explodes into a human pandemic with human-to-human transmission before or after that is anybody's guess.