Media-borne virus
I guess you can’t wait more than a few years and some scandals before another outbreak of deadly (insert factor) erupts. The last one was Avian flu virus and before that, BSE. People are panicking and it’s not all their fault. Large burden is upon the WHO and media outlets who faithfully reprint their statements. And it’s sad to see state and federal officials do their bidding without trying to do real hard science and base their decisions on those findings. I bet you didn’t know that in the last scare, Tamiflu was the preferred “cure” of choice, but scientific community has expressed what they hold reservations regarding this product (see here and follow links).
We’re witnessing another scare. Tamiflu manufacturer has announced a prediction of 500% in increase of sales of the product. The media is spilling out mass death scenario regardless that the WHO has corrected its 150 dead figure to 7. This is hardly the mortality you would expect from a deadly virus that was rampant in 1918 and killed about 50 million people. This is not even as strong as the “regular” flu that kills several factors of magnitude more people a year.
While this may turn out to be a genuine pandemic with devastating effects, there is still little evidence to insinuate in that direction. Perhaps when pigs fly.
