National Security Threat

Bird flu

In Asia, there have already been a number of deaths among people who caught the flu from chickens or ducks. The mortality rate is very high — about 72 percent of identified patients, said Gerberding. There also have been documented cases of this strain of flu being transferred from person-to-person, but the outbreak was not sustained, she said.

Don't give me any nonsense about Acts of God.

This thing has a unique surface antigen- the H5 hyaluronidase moiety- and that means you can make a vaccine for it.

In fact:

The government has ordered 2 million doses of vaccine that would protect against the known strains of avian flu.

It kills 3/4 of the people that get it, which is why it hasn't spread much further. What happens if some bright maniac gives it to someone, puts 'em on an airline, and walks 'em through O'Hare? Coughing themselves literally to death?

Dear Leader, his closest friends, and maybe 2 million "others" get the vaccine. They ought to be ordering 200 million doses of it. It's less expensive than a week of fighting in Iraq.

It's what a government is good for. Unless it's run by Republicans. Who's "private contractors" couldn't even get the right formulation together this year.

More facts about avian influenza here.