Credit MBAH
# 10,021
Few of my readers will need an introduction to author and blogger Maryn McKenna, who now writes for National Geographic. The archive of her long-running Wired Superbug blog contains some of the best coverage of the growing antibiotic resistance issues facing modern medicine . Her award winning book Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA is a superlative and eye-opening read.
And Maryn is certainly no stranger to the topics of avian flu and the safety of our food supply.
So, knowing when it is better just make a quick introduction and step quickly aside, I will simply point you towards Maryn’s Nat Geo blog today, entitled:
The Avian Flu Epidemic: Massive Impact, Uncertain Future
by Maryn McKenna
You might have to be an avid reader of medical journals—or a poultry farmer—to notice that the United States is in the midst of a slow-motion disease disaster.
The disease is avian influenza, and though it has not, as yet, affected any people, it is wreaking havoc nonetheless. As of Monday, almost 26 million chickens and turkeys have either died, or been killed to keep the disease from spreading. Three states—Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin—have declared states of emergency. Layoffs have begun at poultry farms, and the industry is warning that there may not be enough surviving turkeys to fill tables at Thanksgiving. The federal government has released $330 million in emergency funds, and in Minnesota, the National Guard has been called out.
