Bird Flu Zoo

Yesterday I heard that President Bush wants to set aside 7.1 Billion dollars to help with the possiblity of a bird flu pandemic. Newsweek reports on the potential cost of this disease. There are reports that the US could restrict travel. Bloomberg reports the threat may spur recommended vaccinations for all. And people all over the world are destroying birds.

Have any of these people promoting the pandemic consulted the CDC?

Exerpts from their website:

• "The spread of avian influenza viruses from one ill person to another has been reported very rarely, and transmission has not been observed to continue beyond one person."
• "The risk from bird flu is generally low to most people because the viruses occur mainly among birds and do not usually infect humans. However, during an outbreak of bird flu among poultry (domesticated chicken, ducks, turkeys), there is a possible risk to people who have contact with infected birds or surfaces that have been contaminated with excretions from infected birds."
• "The H5N1 virus does not usually infect humans."
• "The current risk to Americans from the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in Asia is low."

Does this sound like something we should be setting aside 7.1 Billion dollars for?

I know that Disney is a powerful company and a major influence on our culture but is this all part of a promotion for their Chicken Little movie? I mean please, is the sky falling? Or is this a wacked way of spurning our economy? Anybody remember the SARS scare? What happened to that?