the birds

Alfred Hitchcock had a good idea when he made the movie "the birds." perhaps he was ahead of his time, but this film reflects a theme heard on television these days. This film shows the fight for human survival once the birds have decided to descend on mankind. People get their eyes pecked out. A woman screams as birds crash and die against the glass of a phone booth. Just as the genocide begins, it ends.

So bird flu is still in the headlines. This time it appears that a family in Indonesia contracted the disease from contaminated poultry. Six of the seven family members have died. Though still rare in humans, h5n1 has killed 124 people world wide according to msn.com (a quarter being in Indonesia). h5n1 is spreading around the globe- well, around the old world for the moment. Since the first cases were diagnosed in Asia a few years ago- reports of contaminated fowl has come from Indonesia, turkey, and as far east as France. Migratory swans and other birds are to blame for the spread of the disease around Europe. In response, farmers and health workers have disposed of thousands of birds to prevent further contamination. Experts are at odds when the flu may or may not hit the western hemisphere. It will most likely arrive from poultry smuggling or something human made (some say as early as next year or by 2008). Human to human infection is still tricky, and the h5n1 virus hasn't mutated enough to pandemic proportions... But it could.

The flu epidemic of 1918-19 killed 20 million people within a few months. That's worse than the bubonic plague that struck Europe in the 14th century. Health officials don't want to miss the ball with this new strain of bird flu. Its been talked about. Talk shows joke about it. There isn't enough Tamiflu to go around if it hits. So what are we going to do about it?

I believe the way to keep clear of h5n1 is to stay the heck away from birds, poultry, fowl, and any other stupid type of birds. platypuses and other Australian evolutionary mess-ups are ok. It seems like all these cases where bird flu supposedly has struck are poor argicultural communities. Even if an outbreak occurs, the communist government that controls them will cover it up. By the time the news spreads, all of the Tamiflu will have dried up. A definite defense against this illness is questionable at most. What can you really do? Wear one of those surgical masks? Back when SARS was around Asia, those masks became something of a fashion trend. You could buy those sterile masks in many colors and styles. I don't know if something like that would be marketable to a cheerleading squad or an overweight mid-western teen.

So until bird flu gets closer to the US, I'll stick with my mad cow beef and grow deaf from loud rock music.