# 1852
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, there was a panic over bird flu. Apparently I blinked, and missed it.
The Milwaukee JS ran the following editorial yesterday. First their commentary . . . then mine.
Editorial: Was panic warranted?
Declining cases of human bird flu and the failure so far of the virus to evolve into another form reduce fears about a possible pandemic, but nations must remain on high alert.
From the Journal SentinelPosted: April 8, 2008
A few years ago, public health experts and even average folks were nervous about what they feared might be the next global pandemic - avian or bird flu. While some of those fears, especially on the part of the public, might have been exaggerated, there was good reason to be concerned.
Researchers here and abroad continue to prudently monitor the disease, but many are now questioning whether it will become the pandemic predicted only a few years ago. The Journal Sentinel's Susanne Rust noted this week that, at the flu's peak in 2006, there were 115 human cases worldwide; last year, that number dropped to 87 (www.jsonline/735618).
Researchers, including Dennis Maki, an infectious disease expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Rust that the virus has had millions if not trillions of opportunities over the past five years to evolve into a pathogen that easily could make the jump to people. So far, it has not. And while that is certainly something for which the human race can be grateful, the ultimate folly in public health is to let down one's guard, whether it's against a virus as familiar as measles or as exotic as avian flu, which has killed more than 60% of the people it has infected.
Experts say the avian flu virus is still smoldering, which means it still has the capacity to flare up. Health officials are wisely keeping an eye on two potential hot spots: Egypt, the only country where the human incidence of the disease is still rising, and Indonesia, where the government has done little to stop the disease's spread.
Compared to countries such as South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia, which have taken Herculean steps to fight the virus, including vaccinating birds, Indonesia's response borders on reckless.
If the virus were to mutate and make the ominous jump to humans and become easier to transmit, experts say it would be in Indonesia. Given that, the World Health Organization must pressure Indonesia to follow the responsible example of countries such as South Korea and Vietnam.
The combination of increased globalization and avian flu means the whole world must remain in a state of medical combat readiness.
Was the panic over avian flu overblown? Send a letter to: Journal Sentinel editorial department
My questions is: What panic?
Seriously.
Did hordes of frightened people take to the streets, trampling one another in abject fear of an impending pandemic? Did thousands of people join doomsday cults, quit their jobs, move into caves, awaiting the end?
No.
Governments are preparing for a possible pandemic, but that hardly constitutes `panic'. In fact, it's not only prudent- it's long overdue. Researchers are following the virus intently, as well they should. And a handful of private citizens (probably no more than a few thousand) have made minor preparations in case of a disaster- something that the US government heartily recommends.
The closest thing to `panic' that I've seen has come from the media, and even there, it has hardly risen to that sort of level. Some breathless prose, particularly in the tabloids, and a couple of made for TV movies.
The idea that the public (or governments, for that matter) have over-reacted to pandemic related news and information is simply unwarranted. The sad truth is, the public remains largely oblivious to the threat.
Thankfully, the body of this editorial urges that we not let our guard down, that the threat of a pandemic has not gone away. Why they felt it necessary to trivialize people's concerns by calling it `panic' escapes me.
What we need is more legitimate concern, not only on the part of the public, but also by local officials, and the media. People need to take the threat seriously, and become better educated and better prepared.
Better reporting would help. For every knowledgeable reporter - like Maryn McKenna, Maggie Fox, Jason Gale, or Helen Branswell - there seem to be a hundred reporters out there that don't know the difference between an antiviral and a vaccine.
A pandemic will come again- it's just a matter of time. This year, next year . . . ten years from now.
If you want to see real panic, let 6.5 billion people go into the next pandemic undereducated and unprepared.
