More Information Surfaces About the Avian Flu Threat

Because I believe that most people reading this blog have pretty much dismissed all of the discussion surrounding the Avian Flu threat, let me provide you with some more information. This website was created by the federal government. It went live in November. It is something that you need to read.

First, the latest odds on the flu mutating into something that is contagious between humans is now 50%. The longer the virus stays active, the greater the chance of a dangerous mutation.

If you read this site you will be amazed at what the government is suggesting. They have in place a "National Strategy." It involves plans for producing vaccines, transporting vaccines, quarantining entire areas of the country, and providing services for people who are homebound.

The site recommends that we prepare to stay in our homes for an extended period of time. This means that you must have substantial food stores as well as any other items that you need to survive such as medicines. The food stores should be non-perishable. When I read that I wondered why that would be the case, however, if travel restrictions are enforced, parts of the country will not be able to receive shipments of coal and the operation of power generation plants might be severely curtailed. They also recommend that you discuss with your employer the possibility of working from home, as you will not be allowed to have contact with others.

The government has plans to ban all types of public assemblies, such as school and church meetings. The site also suggests that you make plans for a period of time without income. If you have a skill or business that has the potential to be put online, now is the time to begin working in that direction.

I strongly recommend that you read through the site. There is a lot of information there that might come in handy.

In addition to the above site, the Federal Reserve issued an advisory about the Avian Flu threat. "This advisory is intended to raise awareness regarding the threat of a pandemic influenza outbreak and its potential impact on the delivery of critical financial services. Read the whole advisory here.

It is evident from the amount of information on these sites that there has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes with regards to this potential problem. In fact is has been suggested that because so many resources have been dedicated to this problem, it may have caused the delays in responding to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Now we have no way to prove that and the government will never admit it, but it does sound logical in light of the poor response by government agencies.

If the government is this worried about this threat and the Federal Reserve is worried about a major disruption of the financial system, then maybe we had better take notice. Remember what I said in my last post, once the general population becomes aware of the situation, it will be too late to make any last minute preparations.