Why you should fear Avian Flu

The last deadly flu epidemic broke out almost 90 years ago in 1918. How quickly did the flu spread? From PBS.org comes this map that shows how the virus spread across the United States in just two weeks.

The United States had an excellent rail system, but it was nothing compared to the speed and efficiency of interstate highways and air travel. Transcontinental travel was limited to boats, and it took weeks to cross the Atlantic. In an age when you can fly from London to Lagos or New York to New Dehli within a day, the Avian flu will spread like nothing seen before in human history if it connects from human to human.

The BBC has a great map of the spread of the avian flu in birds and humans that is regularly updated. This week we’ve seen new cases in Russia, Kuwait, Britain, and Thailand; as of yet it’s not clear how the virus jumps from birds to humans, whether it’s consumption of the birds, air, fecal matter, or other. As of yet it does not spread from human to human. But dare I say it, the question is not “if” it transmits from human to human—it’s a question of “when.”