Bird Flu vs. Mad Cow

Ok, so what's going on with the animals and their diseases? Should I be worried? Do I need to rent Outbreak so I can be aware of how each strain of the virus will jump from animal to person? Seriously though, I'm a little confused about all this right now.

From what I understand, the bird flu exists in wild birds all the time, and then often moves to the domestic flocks. The Center for Disease Control says that you can catch it from a bird, not by eating the bird--apparently your stomach acid wipes that out, but by touching the bird, its remains, saliva, or excrement (yuk) and then touching your eye or your mouth--some place that you have saliva or fluid (yuk again). You can also get it from the "rapid defeathering" of birds that causes their particles to fill the air (I'll pass on that activity, thanks).

So apparently this specific strain of the bird flu H5N1 is especially potent. It's been killing birds across Asia, and I now they're saying that they have one bird in Turkey that has died from it. According to the World Health Organization, this disease does not spread easily among humans yet. 60 people have died from it since 2003, and about 110 people in 10 countries have been infected now. My question then is this: why is the world in a pandemic panic about an outbreak? Everything I've read says that they are concerned this strain might mutate into a flu virus that's easily transferred from one person to another. But why now? This strain has been around for more than 40 years.

I'm not saying I don't want warnings. I rely on people who are infinitely smarter than I am to research things like this or like hurricanes. But I get irritated with the media who hype things up, create fear, and promote the possibility of this pandemic virusthat will wipe out our race. Just give it to me straight--60 people in two years? Traffic in Dallas has statistics that are much worse than that. All I'm saying is let me know when the threat becomes real, not when it's just the latest buzz story of the day.

On a related note, CNN is also telling us that "natural beef" sales are up. If you're interested, you can order your next t-bone at www.healthycarnivore.com. Seriously.

So look out for the birds, be careful which cows you eat, but the good news is that I heard on our news tonight that eating fish can make you smarter. Give me a pole and the bait, it's time for dinner...