Been under the weather lately, and busy with work and rehearsal, but I thought I would jump in with this terrifying bit of news:

‘We Are in Real Trouble’

A health expert warns of the increasingly real possibility of an avian flu pandemic and what we can do prepare

Since its discovery in the late 1990s, the avian flu virus, or H5N1, has infected at least 100 people, more than half of whom have died. But public health officials around the world are warning that the casualty numbers could be much higher if the virus becomes more easily transmittable between humans. On Thursday,  Dr. David Nabarro, an executive at the World Health Organization and newly appointed United Nations coordinator for avian and human influenza, stoked fears even more when he warned that a flu pandemic could strike at any time,  killing five million  to 150 million people. On Friday, the World Health Organization backed away from the high end of those estimates, but concurred that millions could die in a pandemic.

Scared yet?  How about this?

A global influenza pandemic is imminent and will kill up to 150 million people, the UN official in charge of coordinating the worldwide response to an outbreak has warned.

David Nabarro, one of the most senior public health experts at the World Health Organisation, said outbreaks of bird flu, which have killed at least 65 people in Asia, could mutate into a form transmittable between people.

"The consequences in terms of human life when the pandemic does start are going to be extraordinary and very damaging," he said.