Saturday, September 02, 2006

Bad birdie!


Autumn is edging ever closer here in the UK, and the chill in the air will no doubt remind the media to start panicking us again about avian influenza.

The autumn migration period, during which wild birds move from their northerly breeding grounds to wintering sites, will soon begin and migratory birds are expected in mainland Europe any time now. Experts advise that during the autumn migration period there will be a greater likelihood of avian influenza (H5N1) in wild birds in Europe.

The international alert level for pandemic influenza, advised by the World Health Organisation, remains at alert level 3: human infections with a new sub-type but no new human-to-human spread, or at most rare instances of spread to a close contact, but anyone want to place bets as to the first ‘It’s on its way, prepare to die’ tabloid headline?

London would have to be the worst place to be if a pandemic hits the UK. We’re crammed together on tubes, buses and trains, too many people somehow think it’s ok to spit in the streets, sneeze and cough without attempting to cover their nose/mouth and, my personal favourite, sneeze into their hand (1/2 a point for effort) and then grab the pole they were holding on to with their snotty infectious hand.

We are doomed.

No comments: